Zeratul's Tales
by Walker of Shadow
Summary: Deep in the pit of despair, Zeratul meets an Aiur protoss who wants to mend the rip between protoss factions. At the same time news comes about a dead protoss preserver that has been found. This causes Zeratul to be thrust into the heat of battle against the zerg and the Dominion. All the while Zeratul begins to understand that the worst enemies are the ones that are close to you.
1. Chapter 1

Zeratul's Private Struggle

Time: Post Great War- About Two Years

character: Zeratul

age: 635

Race: Protoss

note: All mental talk is placed in italics

Chapter I: Aching Memories

The brave protoss warriors stood facing off against the unending tide of zerg that had come surging across the molten lava river. Warrior after warrior fell trying to buy enough time for the remainder of the warriors to escape. Zeratul and his matriarch Raszagal chief among them. The many photon cannons strewn throughout the large encampment continued to fire their ion blasts at the zerg mutalisks but were soon blown to pieces as the larger evolved versions of the mutalisks, called guardians, came and struck from a distance beyond the cannons reach with their acid. Overlords slowly flew overhead dropping off more and more zerg warriors to face off against the failing protoss defense. The five carriers that had been brought as a precaution continued to unload their interceptors at the zerg flyers but were still being harried by the scourge and mutalisks making it difficult to focus on the zerg ground forces. More and more robotic dragoons and reavers took to the field utilizing their own weapons as best they could, laying waste to scores of zerg that were quickly replaced by more. Overhead scores of scouts and the new dark templar air units called corsairs were fighting as hard as they could against the zerg flyers but were losing on every front. More and more protoss structures were getting damaged or destroyed. The large nexus had already fallen and the warpgate had been disabled so no reinforcements were available. The protoss warriors knew they were outmatched but kept fighting anyway if anything to prove to themselves and their ancestors that they were not cowards in the face of death.

Soon the massive ultralisks were utilized and tore through the protoss warriors like paper, its thick tusks easily shearing through armor, flesh and bone. With this the protoss knew the battle was lost but they kept fighting anyway. They would die as warriors not cowards! So they did all of them until there were none left save two. Zeratul and Raszagal. After the last of the protoss warriors fell the zerg stopped and stood or floated waiting. After a moment a shuttle appeared from somewhere and landed on the large hill where the stasis cell holding Raszagal stood only slightly damaged from the fighting. When it reached the surface it unloaded its cargo one protoss.. Zeratul. Standing tall despite the knowledge that death was fast approaching he walked over to the stasis cell and placed one of his hands on the glass. At the same time two overlords appeared only about two-hundred feet from him and unloaded their own cargo three beings. Two ultralisks who immediately moved towards Zeratul as if to corner him and one female. Tall, with Medusa spikes for hair and talons on the ends of her hands with green/brown skin and dull yellow eyes that seemed almost alive. As well on her back were two large bony wings that ended in large spikes that could impale anything and almost seemed to have a mind of its own sometimes. Kerrigan. She stepped forward a few feet but did not say a word. Zeratul slightly moved his hand across the glass and clenched one of his fists. Then with no preamble she said: " You cannot hope to free her Zeratul she is under my control". Zeratul slowly turned to the person he hated more than anything else in this universe and at this moment wished he could somehow destroy her now but could only contend himself with saying: "_ Curse you Kerrigan for what i am forced to do"_ With that Zeratul turned and slashed through the stasis cell with his warp blade and subsequently Raszagal. Kerrigan took a step back surprised. Raszagal crumpled to the ground only to be caught by Zeratul. Her eyes were half closed in a smile and she said, her voice constantly changing due to the mind control: "' _You have freed me from her vile control at last. You have always served me with honor... thus i must ask you to watch over my tribe... Zeratul... into your hands i give the future. _With that Raszagal closed her eyes completely and died. Free at last from the Queen of Blades control.

Kerrigan could not believe it and so her voice showed her surprise when she said: " I can't believe it... you killed your own matriarch. Zeratul lowered Raszagal to the ground, stood, turned to face Kerrigan and said: _Better she died by my hand than live on as your slave... Kerrigan. _Kerrigan responded: " Well clearly i've misjudged you. You are a true warrior. You are free to go. Zeratul was surprised he responded: _What? _Kerrigan said: " I said you are free to go. I've already taken your honor. Ill let you live because i know that your every waking moment will be torture. You'll never be able to forgive yourself for what i've forced you to do. That Zeratul is the best revenge i could have ever imagined...

_Zeratul forcefully tore himself from the awful memory and began thinking again on the past and his current situation: __It has been two years since the events that transpired during the Great War took place, where Kerrigan not only broke from her bonds to the Overmind but also ascended to the position of Queen of the Zerg, _Zeratul bitterly recalled as he slowly trudged across the barren twilight deserts of Shakurus. To ensure that he was truly isolated, for such was his desire, Zeratul slowly looked and could see that he was at least fifty miles away from any Protoss city. _Lest any wayward protoss seek my council._ Isolation was something that he wanted these days, with all that he had seen and borne witness to, time to think was a blessing in disguise. At the same time isolation allows for one to see what has happened before and see how it could have been different. Zeratul continued thinking: _It has been almost two years since the very woman who sought to bring peace to our races and put an end to the UED threat betrayed me and the rest of the Protoss race. Who forced me to kill the only one among my people who had commanded my utmost respect, my matriarch Raszagal. Yet the wound is still very fresh, still painful to even think about, _Zeratul continued to think_._ _I, with all of my heart, wish there was a way I could have changed the course of events that have transpired but I cannot and so I am stuck in this "self-dug hole" ,I believe I have heard Raynor say once, trying to figure my way out of it in some way. _What was worse about this wound than any of the other wounds he had received over his many centuries of life, though, was that this one was self-inflicted.

Zeratul had been so lost in his self-loathing that he had not noticed that an Aiur protoss had come from another part of the twilight desert and had started to walk next to him. Aiur protoss, Zeratul's brethren seemed to like to call the refugees this even though those same refugees were not that much different. After a moment of mental silence Zeratul finally broke it by saying in a mental voice that any Terran would associate with dry leaves rustling: _Brother, what brings you here to my place of isolation, you are very far away from any of the cities? Although this planet is devoid of any real harmful creatures it still is important to stay close to your family._ A wave of calm and,surprisingly, good feeling washed over Zeratul and he could not help but wonder what had made this young protoss so upbeat. His answer came when the protoss thought: _My brother;I am elated because I have found you at long last. You see, me and a small group of other Khalai from Aiur have decided that we are ready to learn the ways of the Dark On- I mean the Dark Templar so that the rift between our two people may finally be mended._

Zeratul could not help but fell a small tinge of pride creep in his soul at the young protoss's enthusiasm towards his people's history and culture. However, he hated when this feeling came around, he knew that there were certain aspects of the Dark Templar's history that would need to remain hidden. Zeratul looked at the protoss, who was doing his best to mentally conceal his excitement but was clearly failing at it; as Zeratul could easily feel the young Khalai's almost uncontrolled eagerness to learn and study, and so feeling somewhat heartened, said: _I am willing to teach you about our people but understand all that you will learn will not be everything we are. Parts of our history I would prefer to remain exactly that; our history, for our people only. As well some parts are rather dark and don't need to see the light of day as it were. _Zeratul could see the passion start to die in the protoss' eyes and took pity on him, saying:_ But perhaps in time when the rift between our two people has been repaired we will be willing to share our past. _The protoss shook his head vigorously in understanding and responded: _I will do my utmost to learn everything from you and use the knowledge to help the whole of the protoss people heal!_ Zeratul saw the passion flood back into the protoss's eyes again like some recently built dam had been torn down and sent a wave of happiness to the protoss which seemed to make him even more passionate about the learning experience.

The protoss turned his back to Zeratul then proceeded to run in a seemingly random direction, though Zeratul knew well that the protoss knew where he was going. The student ran in long graceful strides that would be impossible for all except the fittest of Terrans to keep up with, yet Zeratul had no problem catching up to and even surpassing the protoss. Which made the protoss start to run even faster. Soon enough the two protoss, teacher and student, were in a race to one of the protoss cities where Zeratul would begin the young student's instruction. For the first time Zeratul felt somewhat... competitive and desired to beat his new student, although he would not feel pain if he lost. They were soon within a few miles of one of the protoss cities on Shakuras. Neither protoss seemed out of breath... if they could breath like the Terrans did, but they didn't. Rather they expressed weakness in the body through sensations that did not necessarily require the Khala to feel. They both stopped abruptly near a large, dead, oddly shaped tree. Zeratul had seen this particular tree many times during his walks of isolation but his student seemed to be somewhat fascinated by it. _It looks dead but it is not is it teacher,_ came a thought from the young student. Zeratul slowly nodded his head and responded saying: _You are correct this is the rare_ Shakuro tree._ Only five exist on this planet. It is the only official life other than us that exists here. We dark templar look to this tree as a symbol of tenacity and strength for even though Shakurus is mostly a desert and there is no rainfall to_ _help keep this tree alive it continues to still be here as though in defiance of nature herself._ The young student nodded his head slowly in understanding as he realized he had just received his first lesson about the dark templar. Zeratul turned in the opposite direction of the tree, regarding the vague shadow of the protoss city and then turned to his student and said: _I can defeat you in a race to the gates of the city._ The statement was rather blunt and although Zeratul secretly regretted how brash his words were he was surprised when the student did not seem to show any disappointment. Rather the student simply replied: _I will defeat you, teacher, in a race to the gates of the city._ With that the two protoss resumed their rather humorous chase.

After a short time, both protoss had made it to the large purple and blue walls of the city. Of course Zeratul had made it there first and almost failed to resist a quick jab at the student for his loss. Rather Zeratul quickly focused on the task at hand and gave an order for the gates to be opened giving his name and rank just as "insurance". The guards, both Aiur and Shakurus protoss, used their different psionic powers to open the large purple and black gates. As they were opening Zeratul had, for the first time in two years, the pleasant thought that things were going to work out well. _At least this will be a useful distraction from my grief._ With that final thought he shuttered his mind and proceeded past the now open gates into the bustling city.

**Authors note: I Walker of Shadow would like to personally thank my dear friend Silent Hunt for "allowing" me to take a few names and ideas from his own story and integrate them into my own. It really created for me a new type of plot that added a sense of intrigue for me. I hope that in the future we may assist each other with stories as well. Thank you again Silent Hunt.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II: Zeratul's Renewal

Zeratul and his student silently walked down the busy street, Zeratul keeping his thoughts tightly shut from the student. The student seemed to be trying to do the same but was not very effective at it; which allowed Zeratul to pick up on surface thoughts here and there. The student didn't seem to notice or if he did he showed no indication of it._ So young, i never thought that even the young Aiur protoss would allow their thoughts to roam freely, Zeratul thought, this is an interesting case indeed._ After a short time Zeratul and his student reached a tall black building near the center of the city. The student asked Zeratul privately, with a small bit of awe as he stared up and up at the tall slightly purple and black building in front of them both: _Teacher what building is this, I have never seen its like before and I have been in this city for a least two years?_ Zeratul looked at the student with eyes that seemed, to the student to be regaining something but what it was the young protoss could not tell, and said in a low,dry voice: _This is the dark templar archives, much like the ones found on Aiur__._ Zeratul mentally sighed as he realized that he had made the distinction between Aiur protoss and the dark templar. _Even I am not immune to the wiles of culture and society even if they are wrong,_ Zeratul silently thought making sure the student could not "hear" him. Zeratul decided to answer the other part of the protoss's question and so said: _The reason that you or any other protoss cannot see it is because we dark templar have hidden it ourselves not wishing for anyone in particular who may not understand what is here to stumble upon this place and peruse our archives without our knowledge. Now if we have granted permission to an individual who happens not to be a dark templar as is the case with you and your "companions", we are willing to let them see it._

Zeratul looked at the young student whose name, Zeratul had picked up on earlier, is Rathnuk, and saw that he was ashamed at something as his head was slightly ducked. Zeratul already knew the cause from the various surface thoughts that the young student had let slip on the way here but wanted Rathnuk to tell him. The student after a minute of silence did, saying: _Forgive me, teacher, but I lied to you __about my friends and us desiring to learn- that was false. Its only me who is interested in learning the dark templar ways. I do have companions but they all do not think the same as I do; in truth they think me rather crazy to try something like this. Teacher, I am truly sorry, I should not have deceived you, I shall leave. _The protoss ducked his head and his skin became mottled, a sign of suffering and pain in a protoss even one that is young. As the protoss started to turn and walk away dreadfully ashamed Zeratul reached out a hand and clasped it on the protoss's shoulder saying: _I knew from the start that you were trying to fool me, not wise... but I am willing to overlook it since you have such an enthusiasm for learning about my people._

Zeratul sensed great joy come from the protoss; the protoss was genuinely happy to be able to start his instruction. Zeratul nodded, feeling the genuineness in the protoss's mind, and said: E_nter through the doors to your destiny. _Almost like Zeratul had said a magic word the large black doors slowly irised opened; the doors seeming to move on their own backwards until they were parted completely to the side. Rathnuk straightened himself up- preparing his mind, no doubt, for whatever lay ahead and entered the structure.

Zeratul fell in close behind him and watched as a wave of awe seemed to overcome the protoss. Rathnuk was looking around at the grand foyer taking in all of the sights, the large grand purple and black pillars that formed two long lines parallel to each other that led to a large elevator, the seeming vastness of the whole building as he looked up and could not see the ceiling, and to top it off massive purple shelves along every inch of wall that housed literally thousands if not millions of khaydarin crystals. Despite not knowing much about how the dark templar stored memories or information Rathnuk made a guess that this was how they did it. A thought brushed his mind: _You are very observant young one, yes these crystals are what we use for storing memories and events that have happened to us... it is rather passionless but it gets the job done._ Rathnuk sent an understanding laced with some happiness as he realized that he had just learned his second lesson_._ The protoss kept looking around until his lambent eyes fell on one of the far walls where there were no shelves filled with khaydarin crystals, rather a line of large statues of apparently great and powerful protoss that seemed to express a type of power and wisdom that he could not possibly understand no matter how long he lived. Rathnuk, with Zeratul in tow, walked over towards the far wall which seemed distant but in reality was not and stood in front of two in particular that attracted his attention. One statue was of a figure that had a dark " fell"- Rathnuk could not think of any other word, even though it was only a statue-to it. Its figure as a whole was one that radiated a deep understanding of life and more importantly death. It wore simple garments that clothed parts of his body, no armor or anything. Also the face, which was only slightly covered with a hood, seemed to hide within the rough features a deep rooted pain that would not go away. Overall the young protoss student got a sense of deep, deep sadness that was conveyed even through this inanimate object. The protoss could not help but feel an overwhelming sense of pity for the protoss even though he did not know in anyway this protoss's history. The second statue showed a figure- clothed somewhat in the same way as the first save for that the figures dark cloak covered him completely rather than only part of him. Also Rathnuk could see two large black bracers on his arms that the cloak could not or perhaps the figure did not desire for them to be hidden. As well this figure radiated, even through the statue, a deep sense of sadness but also, and the protoss could not believe he was actually feeling this just by looking at a statue, a strong but contained sense of hope almost like this particular warrior wanted to hope for something better but had seen to much in his life to dare to wish for such a thing. Also both statues were colored in hues of deep blue and dark purple, which slightly confused Rathnuk as the one draped in a full cloak was clearly of Aiur descent.

The young protoss was so enraptured by the statues' feelings that he literally jumped slightly when Zeratul appeared behind him and started speaking. The young protoss forced calm upon himself which caused a small feeling of amusement to come from Zeratul. Zeratul said softly: _Calm is something that comes naturally with training and is not forced, remember that._ The young protoss ducked his head in shame and wallowed a bit until he felt Zeratul's hand on his shoulder giving him reassurance. Zeratul then stepped up to the side of the protoss and said in a "voice" that conveyed both appreciation and deep sadness: _These two were heroes of the Great War. The one to the left was called Kadar, born on Aiur, he was an interesting character who had more in common with us than with typical Aiur protoss, he intentionally rebelled against the Conclave of Aiur in order to try and warn the protoss people of the invasion of the zerg. However he could not convince them and so Aiur fell as we all know. He fled from Aiur with Tassadar and together they fought against the wicked Kerrigan and her ilk_. Rathnuk noticed the venom Zeratul placed behind the name "Kerrigan" and decided it was something that could be explained later. Zeratul continued:_ After abandoning Char they returned to Aiur to confront the impossible... the destruction of their world. There they fought the Zerg again and there they parted ways by destiny. I have only talked to Kadar once and that was after the fact of the destruction of the Overmind. I will never forget __those fateful words before he was forced to part ways from Tassadar. _With this Rathnuk's mind was awash in images and words detailing the fall of both mighty Tassadar and the disappearance of Kadar:

_ The Gantrithor was ablaze as multiple zerg mutalisks got around the shields and attacked with their nasty wyrms. Sparks danced over the central console and crystal where Tassadar stood resolute in his flowing blue and gold robes and thick golden battle armor not even showing any signs of fear or pain. Kadar was behind him, the only one other than Tassadar that was still on the ship. Rathul and the rest of the crew had departed at Tassadar's request. As he got close he said: 'Sir I have sworn to keep by your side and learn to help our people'. A moment of silence passes and Tassadar responds: ' I know this, but this is something that has to be done, farewell my good and faithful servant. With that Kadar was moved back by Tassadar's considerable mental powers. He tried to fight it but Tassadar was just too strong and soon found himself in the remaining escape pod. The door shut and Kadar saw Tassadar one last time as he peered into the escape pod at his servant before he turned away from the pod and went to the center console where he would achieve his destiny. After a few seconds a loud whining sound that was all to familiar was heard and the pod was launched out of the side of the carrier. Kadar watched from the window on the pod, the Ganthrithor accelerate as it moved towards its final destination... right in the center of the Overmind. He saw a large ripple in the sky and he knew that the overmind was trying to make its escape. He clenched his fists because if it escaped then the Ganthrithor would only hit ground and Tassadar would fail. But he knew that it would not escape Tassadar would have accounted for that possibility and so he was not surprised when the overmind did not make it. He saw the Ganthrithor light up in a blazing blue as Tassadar's own energy was mixed with that of the ship. When the ship struck the overmind was when the pod hit the ground, the explosion killing at least twenty zerg as such Kadar had to quickly get behind the pod for protection. The subsequent explosion was fully felt by Kadar as Tassadar made his ultimate sacrifice to ensure the zerg would no longer harm his people. The overmind disintegrated before his very eyes and the zerg around it perished in fire. It was amazing and Kadar felt a rare wave of awe wash over him mixed in with the knowledge that Tassadar was gone. ' My teacher, my master, my mentor, my brother... TASSADAR! The mental cry was such that it could be heard all across the planet and thousands of zerg's heads exploded from the mental strain. The cry seemed to last for an eternity but in truth only lasted a minute. After the cry Kadar hunched over and his skin became mottled. He was like that for the next five minutes until Rathul, only wearing shoulder plated armor connected with his black torso armor and a loin cloth, came and said: ' Brother Tassadar's sacrifice was to ensure we would live, let us honor his legacy and take the fight to the zerg while they are confused and leaderless. Kadar rose and said:' No i will do what i must without you. For Tassadar'! With that Kadar turned and strode off towards his own destiny. _Zeratul said: _No one knows where he went after that not even Rathul._ He then continued saying: _After Tassadar's death we lost track of Kadar and never could find him. Many assumed he was dead so we immortalized him in this statue._ Zeratul then said: _The figure on the right was a great protoss called Rathul. There is not much to say about this mysterious protoss for there were not many people who knew him well, even I could not figure out his history. Only a few things were certain. One is that he was a high templar before Aiur's fall, a second is that like Kadar he rebelled against the Conclave. Finally a third thing that is certain is that he fell during the defense of Shakurus to ensure that Artanis and myself were able to get the Khalis and Uraj crystals to the Xel' Naga temple. _Soon Rathnuk's mind was engrossed in images and words that showed the final stand of the one known as Rathul:

_ ' Go! get to the temple the zerg are coming you need to activate the device! Zeratul and Artanis both turned towards the one who had been their stalwart companion for what seemed like an eternity since the fall of Aiur to the discovery of Kerrigan's treachery to now here at the Xel'Naga temple where they were hoping to be able to use this structure to rid the planet of the zerg and saw that he already had his feet firmly planted in the ground and his two bracers were glowing, one a bright green and another a bright blue. They knew there would not be any convincing of him and so continued on towards the stargate where Artanis kept his modified scout that was going to be used to transport them to the temple. They reached it, both daring a look back and seeing that Rathul was still there, feet firmly planted in the ground his blue and green energy blades crackling and glowing with pure mental energy as a large mass of zerg flyers and ground units were converging on his position. Zeratul and Artanis both jumped into the pilot and copilot( a result of the modifications) seats and before they accelerated saw Rathul rush forward to meet the zerg head on. Artanis was unable to watch for fear of running into other zerg flyers but Zeratul had the luxury of being in the copilot seat and so was able to turn and watch. He did this and beheld a grand display. Rathul fought with a strength and speed unseen before in all but the mighty Tassadar himself. Zeratul could not help secretly wondering whether or not Tassadar had actually trained him. It was something he would never know as he knew Rathul stayed behind as a sacrifice to ensure all of the other protoss people would survive. Even as he watched Zeratul saw Rathul get struck three times in the torso with hydralisk spikes yet the poisonous darts did not even slow him and the culprits were struck dead by his blades. More and more zerg converged on Rathul's position clearly seeing that he was resisting their advance. Soon enough Rathul was surrounded by a large circle of zerg piled up three times. Zeratul lightly clenched one of his fists and hoped that somehow Rathul would survive but he knew that that was not the case Rathul had stayed as a sacrifice to ensure the survival of the protoss people. Zeratul cotinued to watch and saw that Rathul had stopped moving and so had the zerg. Rather they were just standing or floating there watching Rathul. Clearly Rathul was doing something that either spooked them or that they were interested in seeing. Trying to focus his eyes Zeratul saw that Rathul had both of his arms out and large balls of mental energy in his open palms. This was amazing Zeratul had never seen anything like this before except in Kadar and he was nowhere to be found. Soon enough the balls grew in size until they completely encompassed his hands. Then the zerg lunged all attacking at the same time. None of their attacks or selves got close for as soon as they lunged for him he slammed the two balls together creating a massive, what Zerartul would later coin, psionic boom__ that slaughtered every single zerg within its reach. All were dead and no new reinforcments came to attack again. Rathul then turned and watched ,seeming to stare straight into Zeratul's spirit, the scout hasten with the devices that would be Shakurus's salvation away. He knew that he had done all he could to ensure the survival of the protoss people. "' The future has been assured. Zeratul, Artanis and all those who will survive this ordeal, never forget what has happened here, never forget those who have gone before and never forget that there are things in this universe worth fighting for."' With that he fell to the ground and_ _died._

The images faded and Zeratul said: _After Shakurus was cleansed of the zerg we quickly retrieved Rathul's body and cleansed, sat and then buried him within the Xel' Naga temple since he died making sure that we were able to use it. _Zeratul after this looked at the protoss, fire having returned to his eyes,and simply said, with some determination in his voice: _Let's begin your training._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III: The student's revelation

The student looked at Zeratul with a look, that Terrans would associate with concern and confusion, and spoke: _What do you mean training teacher?_ Zeratul turned and started to walk along the line of statues until he came to the very last statue at the end of the line. The young protoss followed and then stood next to Zeratul and waited for his teacher's words. They came in a " voice" that expressed more determination and strength than the young protoss had seen from him the whole time:_ You know full well that this sector is not safe for anyone, protoss or terran, with the zerg and their genocidal insane leader Kerrigan leading them._ Rathnuk again noticed the venom and contempt that Zeratul put behind the name " Kerrigan" and decided to find out why. He asked: _Teacher, why is this Kerrigan person a cause of so much anger and contempt from you? _There was a long moment of dreadful mental silence and then it was as if a blocked dam of emotions just burst forth from Zeratul as he recounted everything: _Kerrigan she was a human female a telepath who was apparently a prodigy when she was training. She fell after Arcturus betrayed her so that he could get his ultimate power and become the leader of the Dominion. At least that is what Arcturus thought instead she was captured by the zerg and infested. She became the Queen of Blades the second in command under the Overmind. After the Overmind's death she rose to power and became the queen of the zerg. From there she plotted perfectly how she could manipulate us to achieve her goals of domination. She corrupted my leader Rashcagal and used her to get us to expunge the renegade zerg so she would have ultimate control of the Swarm. At the end she forced me to kill my matriarch in order to free her from Kerrigan's control. At this point Zeratul said no more and shuttered his thoughts. _Rathnuk decided it was best not to continue prodding as he could practically see the hurt and the, the insult rolling off of Zeratul in waves, and said:_ I understand, teacher, now let us move on at this point and try to train._ Zeratul turned lambent eyes on the protoss and said in a low voice: _Yes lets, anyway continuing; _y_ou also know that before, we have been able to fight against the zerg with our full might. _There was a short pause then: _No longer, Aiur is fallen and our people are on the brink of extinction; only by the combination of the traditional Aiur power and the power of the Void can we hope to survive but as you know also the taint of the Conclave is quite deep. It will take much more than a crisis to change hearts. I can go on and on but I believe you have received my point on the matter. Lets begin._ There was a silence and then as Zeratul was about to begin instruction a loud mental voice rang through the halls that was not Zeratul's or his student's: _Prelate Zeratul horrendous news has just come in that requires you attention._ Zeratul turned to the source of the voice and saw, to his astonishment, the heirarch Artanis. He was running with great speed, his thick gold and purple body armor not even slowing him down in his motion. Zeratul recalled absently for a fraction of a second that Artanis had adopted his armor with both Aiur protoss and Dark templar colors to show that he believed in the unity of the two peoples. Zeratul returned to reality in a fraction of a second and called back: "_Hail __heirarch! What news do you bring that is so urgent"?_

Artanis closed the gap quickly and spoke saying: _I will be brief, our observers have found the remnants of an expeditionary fleet that we had sent to Aiur three months ago to retrieve any survivors; however it seems the Dominion and the Zerg have found it as well. That fleet was able to contact us a day ago and report that they have very precious cargo on board... the remnants of a protoss preserver. If we can get those remnants then we could learn more of what has actually happened in the depths of Aiur where the main zerg/protoss battles did not take place. I need you to lead a large force of our fighters to rescue the fleet. Also, even though it pains me to say so after our partnership with James, if it becomes apparent that there is no way to avoid a fight with either the zerg or the terrans I give you permission permission to engage._ Zeratul looked at Artanis as though he had just asked Zeratul to cut out one of his eyes and then eat it. Artanis saw the concern and said with calm and reassurance, laced with pity: _I know since Tassadar, may the Khala comfort him always, chose to defy the unlamented Conclave and abandon the destruction of the terran worlds, we have tried our best to stay clear of the terran worlds or the terrans in general. But this is of such grave importance that I am allowing for us to possibly go into battle against the people we have sworn to not harm. _Artanis looked away for a moment in deep contemplation and then said, turning to face Zeratul again: _Perhaps the stalwart James Raynor can somehow be contacted and brought in to assist in your mission._ Zeratul gave the equivalent of a 'ha' in terran speech and said: _We all know that James has a distinct hatred for the Dominion and what it stands for, but I do not think that it is enough of a reason for him to risk involving himself in our affairs again". _Artanis was silent giving Zeratul's response some thought.

After a few moments Artanis said: "_I see your point, but I would have you try at least to contact him. Please, we need all the support we can muster"._ Zeratul could feel the desperation in Artanis's "voice" and said: _I will try, heirarch._ Zeratul felt a feeling of gratitude wash over him from Artanis before Artanis then turned and ran out of the room. Zeratul watched him go for a few moments before turning to his student who was expressing both fear and excitement at the same time. He said: _I would have rather we train you in peace however it seems fate is against the protoss people again, nevertheless we will train in some fashion. Prepare your armor we depart in a hour. _With that, Zeratul disappeared leaving the student there alone.

The student stood there awe-struck for a few moments before he returned to reality and started for the door. He got there once they were opened again. He then proceeded into the city toward his living quarters. Once there he walked into his fairly spartan room in which only a small bed, a desk and a vid crystal for receiving messages from friends or family were any signs that any being lived there. The room itself was small with the ceiling just large high enough to accommodate his height. It was the typical room size for warriors, nothing to large or to opulent. At this moment Rathnuk envied the Khalai whose apartments were much larger and had many more things to go with them. It was one of the many discrepancies in protoss society. _No single society is perfect,_ Rathnuk wryly thought. _There will always be some discrepancy somewhere. _The student though was not concerned about the appearance of his room, rather he was concerned with what was hidden in it. He turned and walked to one of the walls, he pushed a hidden button and the wall silently slid back. Behind this wall was a large rack upon which hung a large golden chest plate and below it on two other holders were two golden bracers. _Old habits die hard and this I cannot allow to be found and disposed of as it is an physical echo from the past , _thought the protoss as he grabbed the chest armor and silently slipped it on himself. It fit perfectly on him as it always did a soft "click" giving an audible to tell him that the armor was now connected to him. He then grabbed one bracer put it on a wrist with the same clicking sound to show it was now attached then the other doing the same thing. As Rathnuk slowly moved his limbs to get adjusted to the armor again a memory appeared in his mind: _Standing next to twenty other fully armored warriors of the Aiur Zealot Elite Guard Rathnuk took in what he saw. The City of Antioch ablaze with the zerg hordes attacking everyone and everything in sight; the valiant Antioch Guard with Fenix at the head struggling to hold of the unending tide..._ Rathnuk slowly returned to reality and focused on what needed to be done. He slowly pushed the small red button again and the wall closed. He then cleared his mind and walked out of the door. Before he left Rathnuk thought: _My teacher, soon you will understand the real reason I wanted to learn from you. _

An hour later, Zeratul was at the local stargate waiting for his student. He was impatient for he wanted to start the mission as soon as possible. His student arrived only a few moments later and Zeratul expressed a small hint of surprise, quickly concealed at the student's armor and weapons. Right now Zeratul had no time to ask. He simply told the protoss to get into the docked carrier. The student obeyed and entered the carrier through an anti-gravity field that was deployed automatically when a protoss came near it. A safety developed when the carriers were first introduced as the main crux of the protoss fleet, to ensure no non-protoss could easily board the ship. Zeratul before moving took the time to look at the carrier and although he could not get a " birds eye view", as Raynor used to call it, of the ship he knew its relative size and both envied and cringed at the absolute skill and precision that was required to pilot and then land the ships without damage. The stargate interior was fitted for the largest of the protoss ships but still the carrier was large enough that only three could actually fit inside at a time. And only if they perfectly landed withing inches of each other. Zeratul marveled at it but realized he had no time to dawdle starry-eyed he had to move so he then entered after Rathnuk trailing behind him then moving in front of him to get to the anti-grav field. Both were lifted up into the ship where they stopped on the first of four " floors"; the engineering room where all of the maintenance and primary engines were stored and operated. Zeratul took a moment to look at the many engineers before giving the command to go up even further. Both Zeratul and Rathnuk then were taken up into the heart of the ship past two more floors. This was where the bridge was located and it was massive. Elongated walls where several hundred lit screens were integrated into it that had a protoss at everyone whose thoughts were solely on the mission at hand. There were golden swirls and lines on the floor that all seemed to follow a path to the center of the room where there was a large chair that was slightly elevated from the ground. It was golden with many whorls and swirling figures etched into it. Zeratul felt somewhat humbled at the sight but pushed it away as he remembered what he had to do. He made his way to the chair, sat down and placed a hand on the crystal allowing it time to read Zeratul's "signature". At this point Zeratul was grateful, when the carrier had let out a surprisingly soft bellow from the engine room, that his people had integrated as they did militarily for if it had been before the Great War Zeratul not only would not have been able to start the ship but he would not be able to even enter it. Zeratul silently thanked Tassadar and then focused his thoughts on the mission at hand. He placed his hand on the crystal and said: _You all know the mission and what is at stake here let's make it a very quick one that will require little blood._ With that Zeratul took his hand off of the crystal and watched as the carrier slowly ascended into the air. Zeratul had one last thought: _This carrier is packed with the necessary crew for piloting the ship and the necessary weapons I only hope we don't have to use them._

Zeratul then pressed a part of the crystal and the carrier accelerated. The carrier swiftly rose into the twilight atmosphere. The student looked out of one of the large windows on the side and saw that all over the surface where protoss cities were, and saw at least eight carriers were taking off and beginning to draw closer to Zeratul's carrier. Once Zeratul had reached the top of the atmosphere there were at least fifty carriers with a large fifty phoenix escort. The fleet was ready to begin its mission. Zeratul looked and saw all of the carriers as they drew near and was amazed at how... alive, the only word Zeratul could think of, Shakurus had just become all for a small expeditionary fleet. It was ready to fight and possibly die for this small expeditionary force. _This will be a test everyone's wills and abilities indeed. I only hope that we won't have to fight, but as is often the case with fate, we will likely be thrown into a fight of our lives. I only hope that we wont have to sacrifice so much this time. _With that Zeratul ordered , through the crystal, for all of the fleet to jump and they did, leaving simply a ripple in space to mark where they had been only moments ago.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter IV: The Flight Part I

Only an hour later the whole of the protoss fleet appeared from warp-space, a large ripple showcasing their appearance. Zeratul made a cautious check of all the ships to make sure none were damaged. Although he knew the protoss fleet was the most advanced and could handle all things that were thrown their way, he could not help but show some caution. The crew of his own carrier, which he named the Zen' Thal, were somewhat cautious as well. Everyone remembered the strength of the zerg fleet and the terran fleet and were hoping not to have to have to repeat the bloodbath that occurred during the Great War. Zeratul understood fully the ramification of a large battle and so placed one of his four-fingered hands on the large purple crystal in front of him and spoke through it to all of the crew and to the fleet itself, saying: _Attention all cruisers and phoenixes the heirarch, has given us permission to engage the zerg and terran fleets if need be. I am unconcerned about the ramifications of fighting the zerg fleet but I would rather avoid fighting the terran fleet. All ships unless they fire on us first we will not engage. Repeat do_ not _engage!__ May Adun save us all if we get into a battle with both factions._ The crew sent thoughts of understanding laced with a type of empathy that showed that they knew the mental and physical strain of fighting two enemies at the same time. With that Zeratul closed the link and focused now on the seemingly empty blackness of space before him.

He knew vaguely where he was but nothing specific that he could use to keep track or make as an "anchor" of sorts. Zeratul looked with his eyes at the stars trying to remember any of the stars he was seeing. In his youth he had memorized at least two-hundred starcharts. He wished that all of his memories of them would come back now, however none came to mind and so he discounted that notion and instead pressed a section of the crystal which brought up a large star chart that stretched about three hundred-thousand kilometers in every direction. Zeratul looked over the chart slowly, making sure he did not miss anything, trying to pinpoint any star or cluster of stars he recognized. After a minute his long finger rested on the holographic image of a particular cluster of stars. Zeratul recognized it and a feeling of controlled happiness filled him, he said both to himself and his crew: _There, that cluster of stars; I remember that cluster its the Ogara cluster. The expeditionary fleet would have to be there, it is the nearest location that a fleet could jump and make it to Shakurus in one go._ He sent the coordinates to the crew and then to the rest of the fleet, who acknowledged the coordinates with private thoughts to Zeratul. The carriers with their phoenix escorts prepared for another jump. However, they were stopped when many large ripples began to appear in the space before them. Before any of the protoss fleet knew it at least fifty protoss carriers materialized before them. Many of them were ablaze and many had large holes in their side and front where ,undoubtedly, they had been shot by the Dominion ships. One of the ships though seemed to be relatively unscathed. It accelerated slowly towards the Zen' Thal the thrusters only putting a minimum effort towards moving the ship. When it got close a private channel was opened to Zeratul and a face immediately appeared. It features were rather beaten up, as the terrans seemed to like to call it; the face had many bruises on it. Also the face had a black and red cut that ran down the side and was bleeding. However the protoss did not seem to take any interest and simply started speaking: _En Taro Adun Commander._ A pause as the hurt protoss actually determined who it was on the other communication link and said:_ Prelate Zeratul! It is a rather odd coincidence to be seeing you command a fleet, but fate works in many mysterious ways so I wont argue. We have the cargo. However you will need to prepare your defenses when we jumped the way was left open for the Dominion and the Zerg to follow, they will be here soon!" _

Zeratul mentally sighed and responded: _I see. I will relay the order, __you get behind our ships and prepare to jump to Shakurus where you can be safe_. The other protoss nodded his head and immediately closed the link. The ships then started to move slowly until they were all behind Zeratul's fleet. Space started to warp around the ships as they prepared to jump again. A second later they were gone leaving only ripples to mark where they had been. Zeratul considered doing the same since he technically has just completed his mission but ,he realized, if he did that then he would be leaving a direct route open to Shakurus for at least a few minutes that the Dominion- or worse, the Zerg- could use to find the planet. So he did nothing, which got him a few worried thoughts from his crew, but they were quickly pushed aside once the reality of the situation became apparent: they were going to offer the expeditionary force time to rest and the Templar and Artanis time to disperse the cargo. Zeratul looked at the blackness of space before him and sighed. He then pressed the crystal and sent a message to the whole fleet: _All ships, we are preparing to engage both the Dominion and the Zerg. We do not have to destroy them we only need to hold them off for a while. Any ship who wishes to depart may do so before the Zerg and Terrans get here I will not stop you and you will get nothing but praise from me. _Zeratul was pleased to see that none of the ships moved and in fact all of the carriers started to light up on the bottom to show that they were already preparing for battle by building interceptors.

Zeratul ordered his crew to do the same. Soon enough all of the carriers had fifty interceptors ready to deploy. The relatively small ships that were almost as large as a scout but not quite, would do well against the Dominion and especially the Zerg if they brought their heavy air fighters. Zeratul's ship built its last interceptor just in time... for a massive hole opened up in space and through it came the terrifying Zerg! Zeratul expected as much and soon after the Zerg appeared a second hole appeared and through it came the massive battlecruisers of the Dominion fleet. At least seventy-five of the large hammerhead-shaped ships that packed quite a bit of power by themselves, but together they created much havoc for their enemies. These ships as compared to the carrier were somewhat smaller in size however Zeratul knew from his many centuries of training that the size of something does not always determine its dangerousness. All of the battlecruisers quickly lined up in rows of ten with the last five taking the front. These last five seemed, to Zeratul's trained eyes, to be somewhat more " decked out", as Raynor would have said; with longer wing spans and several more blasters on the ends of the wings, than the rest of them. Zeratul, although he did not fully understand the Dominion's ranking system, knew that this was the sure sign of a leader of high rank. Perhaps a captain. Beside the battlecruisers were about forty each of space fighters from Wraiths to Valkyries to Hawks that constantly circled around the battlecruisers. Although these ships were not nearly as sleek or shiny as the protoss phoenix's, Zeratul would not make the mistake of underestimating these ship's abilities. _It's quite the impressive fleet,_ thought Zeratul.

Zeratul then turned his head to observe the zerg fleet. It was quite large with many variations of the mutalisks, with their serpentine like bodies constantly coiling in on themselves like a serpent, brood lords and the like. Overall there were at least five hundred monstrosities there. Much larger than the protoss fleet and the Terran fleet combined. Zeratul looked and saw that the zerg fleet was only about two miles from the Terran fleet and only about three miles from the protoss fleet. _Quite the number_, Thought Zeratul. He involuntarily clenched one of his fists preparing for the onslaught that was about to ensue. A moment of silence ensued where all three fleets did not attack rather they floated eerily drifting closer towards each other like long lost lovers in a sick bout of death. After a moment a link was established from the Terran flag ship that Zeratul was able to ping as being called the Odin III. A rather gruff face appeared. There were several scars on both sides of it and the man wore a patch over one of his eyes. He spoke in a low, rusty voice, with an accent that Zeratul recalled Raynor as calling Russian, saying: " Protoss commander, I am Commander Hukenov of the Dominion Fifth Fleet; we came here searching for important cargo. Now it is gone. We simply ask you kindly to tell us where it is. Since it was protoss you would certainly know where it is. The man cleared his throat and waited impatiently for the answer. It came as Zeratul responded telepathically through the crystal: "_Commander this is Prelate Zeratul of the Shakurus Dark Templar Elite Guard; we certainly know where it went but it is protoss, as you said, and so it shall remain in protoss hands until such time as we can understand what the cargo is." _A pause then Zeratul said_:Perhaps not even then. _The man slammed his fist down hard on his console and terminated the link.

There then came an amused laugh in Zeratul's mind and he knew instantly who that laugh belonged to... Kerrigan. As though the realization was a key to the locked door of his mind to let the demoness in, a voice was heard in Zeratul's mind and it said: _Ha, ha, poor Zeratul, caught in the middle of these struggles again. Personally I would not have expected you back so soon, but it is of no consequence you know full well that your pathetic little fleet cannot hope to stand against my brood, just surrender and tell me where the cargo went instead of hiding it from me."_ Was Zeratul hearing this right? Hiding something from her? He did not know he could do that effectively, it was a fact that heartened him and he dared send back: _No! You vile monster after all of the harm you have caused our people the last thing we would give you is something precious to us! Begone now from my mind and from this place! _Zeratul heard an amused laugh and then he could no longer detect Kerrigan in his thoughts. Unfortunately though, while she may no longer have been in his mind she did give the order for her brood to advance. The commander of the Terran fleet also gave the order to advance and they were converging on the protoss like the zerg. _This is unfortunate for us_ _but we will make due_, Thought Zeratul as he watched the two forced converge on his position.

As the Dominion ships got closer some of them abruptly stopped and some even turned. Zeratul dared look and saw that there was a large hole forming and something was emerging from it. It was another group of battlecruisers all decked out, with their own entourage of small fighters but these were not the same as the Dominion they did not have the same insignia. Zeratul could not tell who the ships belonged to until he heard a clear voice ring out over his and undoubtedly the Dominion's comms that said: " This is Commander James Raynor of the Raynor's Raiders, we have come to the aid of our protoss buddies here and also because we'd love the chance to kick some serious Dominion ass so prepare your defenses were coming for you"!

The link was cut off immediately and Zeratul watched as Raynor's ships closed in on one of the Dominion battlecruisers and literally shot it to pieces. Nothing remained except large chunks of debris. Zeratul's spirits lifted and he pressed the crystal to speak to the entire fleet and said: _All ships engage the zerg, only the zerg, Raynor can focus on the Dominion. Lets teach Kerrigan a painful lesson in protoss strength, En Taro Tassadar! _Loud shouts of approval rang out over the ship and from the other ships. They then turned towards the zerg who were already moving towards the carriers. The phoenix ships raced ahead of the carriers to meet the Zerg and were engulfed in extreme fighting with the mutalisks who shot their sickly green and orange wyrms at the ships. All of the ships turned away from the blasts, unfortunately some were not swift enough and suffered large holes in the ships wings or even through the hull rendering that particular ship useless and dead. The phoenixs that did not suffer any damage quickly returned fire shooting their photon lasers at the serpentine nightmares; the blasts easily searing through the zerg hide. Soon though the carriers got involved and immediately released their stored interceptors. The small self programmed ships zipped back and forth shooting plasma beams every few seconds at any zerg nearby bringing down several mutalisks and broodlords their charred remains becoming mere obstacles for the other fighters. Soon the whole of the protoss fleet was engulfed in the extreme space fighting with both carrier and phoenix alike trying their dead level best to bring down the monsters they all despised so much. Back on his flag ship the whole crew was abuzz with thoughts coming from each other and the other captains in the other carriers as they all tried to keep some kind of formation and order. All the while, Zeratul watched the battle unfold before him and said simply to himself: _Battle has been joined._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter V: The Flight Part II

The battle was fierce, if such a lowly word could be used to describe the bloodbath that ensued after Zeratul gave the order to fire! Interceptors ,launched by the many carriers flying in seemingly random patterns but in truth in perfect harmony with each other, fired their pulse lasers at the zerg hordes. Many zerg were riddled with plasma made holes that caused green and purple ooze to start flowing from their bodies, which was flash-frozen in the vacuum of space. Many zerg fell, their lifeless bodies becoming simple obstacles to the other live zerg monstrosities. Zeratul dared himself a small flicker of hope as he watched from the bridge of the Zen' Thal but that was killed when he realized that the battle was not going to keep being one way as he had hoped. He watched as several of the phoenixes were destroyed by the glaive wyrms shot by about ten mutalisks in unison. The devastating symbiotes tearing through both wing and hull. As well many of the suicidal bombers called scourge were able to weave in and around the forces and find a particular carrier and detonate. The crew was not able to get their shields up in time and as such the bombs tore the carrier in half, blue and green colored blood that was flash-frozen spilling out along with the wreaked hull and other pieces of the ship. Zeratul cursed himself for a fool and quickly touching the crystal said loudly: _All ships bring up shields, we cannot allow for the carriers to be destroyed! _ The message was received and Zeratul saw the tell tale signs of the carriers bring up their shields. A soft blue sphere coming into existence. However the zerg seemed to be instantly aware of this effort. Several of the scourge groups moved in to detonate on any carrier that might not be fast enough; those that were not able to bring their shields up in time were destroyed.

Zeratul mourned the loss of the crews of the destroyed ships but could not afford to take his focus off of the battle. It was starting to turn but not in the protoss's favor. No, it was starting to turn towards the zerg's favor somehow! Zeratul saw this and started to feel some concern that was quickly crushed under the force of a feeling of fierce determination. _No, i will not allow the zerg to take more from my people again i will not!, _thought Zeratul. He dared a look to his left at the other battle that was ensuing. Unfortunately it was not faring for Raynor's Raiders any better than the protoss battle. Zeratul watched one of Raynor's ships get shot through and then subsequently blasted with one of, Zeratul believed he heard it called, the Dominion battlecruiser's Yamato cannons. Zeratul felt sympathy for Raynor as this was not a fight that he needed to even be involved in but now that he was fate would determine what would happen. But! That did not mean that Zeratul could not help.

To the combined shock and astonishment of his crew and that of the other carrier captains, Zeratul ordered the Zen' Thal and ten other carriers to divert from the battle with the zerg and aid Raynor. Several of the captains hesitated for a moment but then reluctantly agreed and moved from the battle. The other ships understood what was going on and so continued the fight against the zerg. Zeratul's carrier and that of ten other captains moved swiftly through space the two miles or so in distance and when they got close enough to the Dominion ships quickly opened fire on everything. This caught many of the Dominion ships off guard which were quickly dispatched as the small interceptors shot hundreds of medium sized holes everywhere on the ships. This ploy ,however, was not unseen by the zerg who diverted some of their forces towards the protoss carriers. Just what Zeratul wanted. Zeratul had planned on using this ploy for more than simply surprising the terrans. He also wanted to force the Dominion and the zerg to fight against each other making it an almost free-for-all. The zerg did not seem to see the secondary ploy that was laced atop the first and so kept going, the fifty or so scourge surrounded with about twenty mutalisks and fifteen brood-lords itching to destroy the protoss carriers and by extension more or less a large part of the Shakurus defense force. This was good that the zerg could not tell the ploy. They would play right into Zeratul's hands. He waited wanting to time this perfectly. Apparently the Dominion wanted to help Zeratul with his ploy when about fifteen battlecruisers drifted towards the small protoss force. They started to fire but their weak attacks were deflected from the strong protoss shields but Zeratul was not a fool he knew that despite the weak attacks if they were kept up the shields would inevitably fail and the carriers would become vulnerable again. Though the terrans would not have enough time for that as the time of Zeratul's plan coming to fruition was at hand. Zeratul commanded all of the carriers to stop firing and stay motionless for a moment. They obeyed without hesitation and drifted there, their shields flaring every time one of the terran's weapons hit. Zeratul waited and waited and then like a flash he sprung into action he practically slammed his fist on the communication crystal and mentally shouted: "_All ships divert course down now"!_ Like it had been choreographed earlier all of the ships struggled yet gracefully drifted downward, somehow, just barely out of harms way letting the zerg warriors pass overhead.

_Its too late for them to divert, I have been duped!,_ thought Kerrigan from her home world of Char as she watched the ultimate unraveling of one of her glorious broods take place. _How could I have been such a fool to think that Zeratul ,ooh Prelate Zeratul what a clever one you are, would not have some odd tricks up his sleeve. _She continued her fierce thoughts until she noticed one of her millions of zerglings at her feet like a grotesque odd shaped dog from Hell keening almost rubbing itself against her legs. Any other time she might have felt an ounce of tenderness towards the creature of nightmare but right now it was more of an annoyance than anything. So with a thought she dispatched it by literally cooking the little brain of the creature inside its skull until a few seconds later it literally exploded, killing the creature and sending blood and ichor everywhere even on her. She grew even more frustrated at the mess but deemed it not worth her attention right now. Right now she needed to figure out some way to salvage the disaster that was quickly being created for her and still get her prize. It would have been simple just to pluck the location of her prize from Zeratul's brain but somehow over the last couple of years he has been able to develop something that prevents her from delving deep into his thoughts. Sure she could easily peruse his surface thoughts but nothing more, she needed something else something that will make him spill his inner most thoughts to her. Something that would- it hit her like a fist to the torso. She saw it through the eyes of one of her mutalisks, she saw the seed of Zeratul's destruction and the ultimate victory for the zerg a single protoss that was armored like the regular Aiur protoss but seemed younger somehow. Yes surely if she had the young one threatened Zeratul would have no choice but to tell her or one of her minions anyway. She did not need to waste her time traveling from one place to the next. So one of her newly christened cerebrates, one that was not bound to one single place like the cerebrates of old, would go do the tack for her. She mentally called: Consort to me. A moment later a large almost human like thing entered through the large honey-combed doors into her throne-chamber. The creature then stepped forward, the light from a nearby volcano highlighting the creature's features. It indeed looked human but that was only because it used to be. It used to have white skin now it was green and slightly brown in some places much like Kerrigan's. Also the muscles were now more pronounced than before in both the arms and the legs. As well the humanoid was bald. The main difference was the fact that unlike Kerrigan this creature did not have wings or extra blades. Rather the humanoid fought with both his mental powers and his brute strength. This creature used to be a very powerful, male telepath working for the Dominion. A ghost just like she used to be. She had caught him snooping around, trying to assassinate her but instead of killing him outright she decided to infest him and make him hers. It worked beautifully and now she had a humanoid like creature that did anything and everything she wanted. On top of that the strong psionic abilities that Arcturus had put so much effort into stamping down were now fully unleashed and hers to use as she willed. With his abilities unbound he now had the ability to control the zerg just like her. Sure there was always the possibility of him trying to usurp her power but that just made things interesting and forced her to remain at her peak of power. The humanoid continued forward until he came to rest about ten feet before her and dropped to one knee saying in a loud, deep, resonant voice that Kerrigan had saw no reason to change: Yes, my queen you called me. Kerrigan nodded her head, while at the same time keeping an eye on the battle through the minds of her minions, and said: "My consort Shadow a much better name than the one you had before, I have need of your services. There is information about a preserver that has been locked away in a protoss's head and I am unable to reach it. However I may have found a way to get that information. Zeratul has a young protoss on board his ship that I can tell he is fond of, put that protoss in danger or kill him and force Zeratul to give up the precious information. I will give you command of three of my broods for the task. Don't fail me". Shadow looked up at his queen and rose saying: "Your will be done, where is this Zeratul I must find"? At that moment Shadow's changed mind was filled with the images of the battle, in particular the location of Zeratul's carrier and the young protoss. The visions lasted only a second, which was all the time he needed to process the information and he nodded his understanding. With that Shadow turned and walked out of the throne-chamber. Once he had left the room Kerrigan returned her attention to the battle that she knew her forces were gradually winning and smiled as she saw the young protoss again and knew that this fatal flaw, this weakness, would be Zeratul's ultimate undoing.

Captain Hukenov could not believe what he was seeing, eleven protoss carriers just literally ducked just in time for about seventy five or so zerg to run headlong into his fleet. The scourge of course completely obliterated any ship they ran into and the mutalisks finished off any ship that somehow managed to survive. Literally Hukenov watched as about 10% of his fleet was destroyed in a matter of minutes. Hukenov's Odin III actually shifted somewhat as the force from the battlecruiser's explosions sent various shock waves and debris flying everywhere. _This is not good, I have to regain control of this situation or the __emperor will have my head._ As though a response to Hukenov's deepest fears his center console's communicator started to beep. Hukenov slowly but deliberately touched the green button that was flashing to open the link and when he did he was greeted with a projection of the emperor's head. The man was magnified by the vids intentionally for the fear factor which worked because Hukenov felt like he was sweating bullets at this time. A few seconds of silence passed while Hukenov waited for the emperor to speak. When he did he did so with a rather loud voice that caused Hukenov to momentarily quail in fear: " My sources tell me that you haven't retrieved the package yet is there a problem I need to know about captain"? Hukenov started at the image for a moment trying to formulate words that would not make the situation appear as bad as it did but none would come so he simply stuck to the truth he said: " Sir, yes there is a big problem we are being hounded by both the protoss and the zerg, the package is nowhere to be found and the protoss commander was unwilling to talk". Hukenov took a very short breath as he waited for the response it came as: " I don't care whether or not the protoss or the zerg have their full armadas here find that prize and bring it otherwise you will be killed is that understood"! Hukenov nodded his head in understanding and immediately the image disappeared leaving Hukenov shaking and sweating. He took a minute and then looking out at the battle before him he saw something that for a brief moment actually created a small bit of hope for him and his expedition. He said simply: " Follow that carrier"

Zeratul should have expected this, he knew the carriers were not cut out or even designed for such quick maneuvering. The fact that he was just barley able to get the ships to descend in time before the zerg came crashing in was sheer luck but now all eleven ships were listing out of control. They no longer had the gravitational fields working properly and they were vulnerable. Apparently both the Dominion and the Zerg saw this vulnerability, for about fifteen ships from the Dominion and about thirty mutalisks of the zerg started racing towards the vulnerable ships. Zeratul ordered the ships to move but nothing could be done at this juncture about how the ships were leaning so simply put Zeratul and his warriors would have to make a stand here. They did and they gave both the Dominion and the zerg hell for even though the ships were almost on their sides the interceptor ships could still function well and still could fight which they did. The ships quickly darted back and forth shooting up both zerg and terran alike several terran ships and several zerg mutalisks dying quickly. Zeratul reveled at the sight but he knew in his heart that this was not even close to enough to get the Dominion or the zerg off his back. On the contrary if anything the defense caused both factions to renew their attacks quickly running closer to the ships and heavily damaging the shields. Only after a couple of minutes two of the carrier's shields were destroyed and the ships were then shot up, several shots firing into the engine causing the ships to explode on the back end. Zeratul again felt sympathy for the lost crew but knew that there was nothing he could do at this point except try and survive. He tried to get his crew to right the ship but nothing at this point was of any help. There was no hope for Zeratul or his crew and they all could tell that.

The reality of their doom was made apparent when the Zen' Thal began to violently rock back and forth. Zeratul looked and saw that now both the Dominion and the zerg were attacking at the same time. This was not good. The Zen' Thal's interceptors could not keep up and even after a while all were destroyed. Now the Zen' Thal was defenseless and almost alone. Zeratul now felt he was going to die so he decided to see if he could not make the best of it. Zeratul looked out of the large view screen and saw that about a few hundred miles below was a planet that looked habitable. Perhaps he could lead a chase to the surface and crash making them believe that they all had perished. He decided it was a risky move but one he was willing to take. He touched the communication crystal and said to his crew and the other carriers around: "_All carriers here still functional head towards the planet below us"!_ They obeyed without question and Zeratul could see all of the remaining carriers drift towards the surface. The Zen'Thal moved as well but shook violently again as it was hit again by the combined attacks of the Dominion and the zerg. A few seconds later the ship rocked again and there was a loud cracking sound which told Zeratul that the shields had just been destroyed. Now they were going to take physical damage. Zeratul decided that he would be the one to take the heavy damage and so touched the communication crystal and expending as much mental energy he could called to the entire fleet saying:_All remaining ships this battle is lost sub-warp home and flee! _Zeratul looked up and saw the ripples which told of the beginning of a sub-warp and was filled with gladness. _At least they will make it home to tell of what happened_, thought Zeratul as the ship received another massive hit.

Now the ship's rear was damaged and on fire. The ship itself was now accelerating towards the surface of the planet, the surface gradually coming into view. The ship rocked again and Zeratul knew that both factions were just making sure that the ship was good and out of commission for the duration of the battle. The ship accelerated more and as it drew closer to the atmosphere both factions abandoned the chase and moved on. That was good for Zeratul but did not help him any now that his ship was plummeting out of control towards the surface, which could now be seen as being rocky but with much green in many places. _This planet is inhabitable,_ thought Zeratul. Soon the ship was halfway through the atmosphere, the heat starting to wear on the outside metal now that the shields were gone. _Only a minute or so now and it will all be over_, thought Zeratul. Zeratul decided to dare a look up and although he could not see in perfect detail his lambent eyes could at least see the final ripples that showed that the protoss fleet had indeed fled. Zeratul turned around and with one final thought to his crew said: _You all have served me well despite my being a dark templar, you will always be remembered._ Only a few feelings of fear and then acceptance brushed his mind before the ship struck the earth and Zeratul's world went black.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter VI: The Awakening

Captain Hukenov could not believe what he was seeing, the eleven protoss carriers that had caused part of his fleet to perish were gone! Completely decimated by both his and the zerg forces. The flag ship forced to crash on the surface of a nearby planet. On top of that apparently there must have been some kind of signal or something before the flag ship hit for all of the other protoss ships had sub-warped and fled the battle. _Spineless cowards, _Hukenov fiercely thought. Unfortunately he now had a larger problem, with the protoss gone nothing held the zerg back and so they came after the only targets left; the terran fleet. Hukenov was frightened for two reasons one for the zerg coming to destroy him and two the fact that if he did somehow survive this battle, Arcturus would kill him because he did not get the package. _My life sucks right now, I am starting to wonder why I even agreed to join the Dominion fleet, _Hukenov wryly thought. Nothing could be done now about a decision that he had made a decade ago! Right now he needed to focus on keeping the rest of his fleet in tact and focus on his mission. His only solace in all this, and it was an ironic solace indeed, was that the zerg attack had forced Raynor's troops to take their focus off of him and the fleet and train it on the zerg. For now the Dominion and the Raider's Raiders were allies against a common enemy, the bane of all who live. _Hopefully at least some of us will make it out alive, _Hukenov bitterly thought.

_Ha, ha, ha, poor Zeratul I told you your pathetic fleet could not hope to stand against my brood,_ Kerrigan triumphantly thought as she silently shifted her weight in her throne. _Now you are mine, without your precious little ships you have no chance against me. _Kerrigan reached out with her mind to her cerebrate who was already well on route to the battle and said in his mind: _My cerebrate, Zeratul and the rest of his followers have been forced to ground on a nearby planet beneath the Dominion fleet follow and kill every protoss or terran you see and don't stop until you have found Zeratul! _A single thought laced with both determination and a hint of sorrow brushed her mind: _Yes my queen. _Kerrigan knew that there were still parts of Shadow's mind that were still tethered to a love for his old people and that no amount of "reprogramming" could alter it. However she also knew that she had planted enough thought altering chemicals in the chrysalis to where he would have no thoughts of betraying her no matter how strong the urge to love the humans became. _Just an extra precaution,_ Kerrigan thought. With that she returned her attention to the battle and she could see that for the moment that Jim and the Dominion commander had briefly settled their differences and were working together against her. _How precious, they actually think they can stand against me. I will prove their error._ With that she sent the order to advance and the zerg brood obeyed without question moving inexorably towards the terran ships like a hungry predator towards its prey. _Soon the net will close and all will be mine,_ thought Kerrigan as she leaned back slightly to watch, through her minion's eyes, her plan unfold.

_Teacher, teacher are you alright please respond to my pleas, please! _The voice sounded familiar however Zeratul, surprisingly still alive, could not find its origin. The voice came again louder and more desperate: _Teacher, teacher awaken please answer my pleas! _The second time Zeratul could locate the origin of the voice and place a name to it: Rathnuk! Rathnuk, thank the Xel'naga the student was still alive and well. This gave reassurance to Zeratul ,still deep in the pit of his subconsciousness trying to break free like it was a physical prison, and he willed the darkness clouding his eyes and mind away. It started to work, the darkness was receding until there was light! Bright light, not the soft blue light that is common on a carrier but natural light that came from a sun or a nearby star. It took only a moment for everything to become starkingly clear and all of the information of the past few... ,he could not tell how long it had been, to come crashing back into his mind. His ship had been shot down by a combined terran/zerg attack, they had crash-landed on this planet that was habitable, and the rest of the protoss fleet had fled to Shakurus and Kerrigan... Kerrigan! The name forced Zeratul completely out of his mind and into the present with eyes completely open and blazing.

This sudden jump caused Rathnuk to be forced back a few steps. He then looked at his teacher with genuine sorrow in his eyes. _Teacher, I am very sorry but everyone on the carrier is dead I was just barely able to pull you out in time before the top half crushed you. _Zeratul turned to the student and then looked around. He could see the destroyed carrier in the distance, blue flames and various sparks dancing across the remains. His heart seemed to break both for the ship and the dead crew. _It was a risk they took. They understood the possible risks involved. May their spirits be at peace. _Though, despite the pain and guilt he was feeling, something did not seem right. The carrier looked to be a good four or five miles away. Why would he need to be taken so far away from the ship. Half a mile is understandable but four or five seems odd. So he asked: _Why was I taken so far away from the carrier? _The student responded instantly and with force in his "voice": _The carrier, when I came to, was literally falling apart. The engine room had been compromised and the __engines were heavily damaged. Had I waited any longer they might have gone off killing both of us. _As though a declaration of proof, at that moment a loud explosion was heard from the direction of the carrier. Zeratul turned again and saw the carrier literally blow apart sending chunks of debris in various directions. Zeratul sighed and said: _You were right to do so, that explosion was large and probably would have killed anything within at least a mile or so. Its sad I had always thought the engines had a type of fail-safe to prevent something like that from happening._ The student responded: _I had thought that as well , apparently not._ Zeratul shook his head and figured the carrier no longer mattered. What mattered now was finding out where they were and finding a way to contact the rest of the fleet for an emergency rescue. _Easier said than done,_ Zeratul dryly thought as he and his student started off in some direction; not knowing where they were going or who they were going to meet or what but they did know something. If they did not move they would die or never be found for sure. As they were walking an odd thought occurred to Zeratul as he examined himself for injuries:_I have a few injuries in the form of several cuts, and bruises and some lost blood; my student on the other hand has no injuries at all. Its as though he was able to avoid the crash completely! _It was an odd mystery but one that Zeratul could investigate later once they had either found life or some shelter.

An hour later, as the sun that made the packed, dry earth beneath the two protoss's feet blistering hot, moves across the slightly blue with a tinge of red sky, the two protoss could see the first signs of life at least in the form of vegetation. This gave new hope to Zeratul who started to pick up the pace ever so slightly. The student did as well, moving ahead of Zeratul. Despite the heat and the dire circumstances they were in, Zeratul could feel a sense of competitiveness return and he started running even faster. Soon both protoss were in the same race they were in back on Shakurus that seemed to take place so long ago even though it had only been less than a week. Both protoss ran all out, doing their best to outpace the other. The student apparently remembered how he had been defeated the first time and did not want a repeat so he started to push himself as hard as he could, passing Zeratul in only a few minutes. Zeratul sped up as well catching up to the student but not passing him. He decided that this time he would let his student win and so kept to his pace while looking like he was genuinely trying to pass him.

As the two protoss drew closer toward the green they saw, they began to notice something strange. That it was starting to darken yet there were no clouds around nor any moons that could be seen. It was strange indeed. Zeratul and his student stopped and looked up. There they saw, to their disbelief, a large, on-fire Dominion battle-cruiser plummeting towards the ground. Zeratul and Rathnuk immediately ran to the side to try and get out of its way. They ran for about half a mile before they stopped and turned around to watch the cruiser crash. As much as Zeratul hated to see terrans die there was nothing he could do to stop the inevitable.

After a minute the ship crashed sending shock-waves as the metal, and whatever other materials made up a battlecruiser, struck the unforgiving earth. There was a large explosion right after it hit and Zeratul was pretty sure none of the terrans had survived but there was something inside of him that made him want to be sure. Curiosity perhaps or a desire to properly bury the fallen warriors of even another race. Whatever it was it had a hold of him and drove him onward towards the wrecked ship. The student sent him a thought of bafflement at the sentiment towards those who would have had us killed for something that was rightly protoss. Zeratul responded, simply stating: _In order to end hostilities one must take the time to understand another race. These terrans are young and don't understand how not to kill each other but they can learn as we have, from out own cultural mistakes and get better. We can help them rather than observe passively. _The student was silent and even if he had said anything it most likely would not have been heard since Zeratul had already started walking over toward the destroyed terran ship.

It took only a couple of minutes to reach the ship and Zeratul needed to look at the whole ship, from his perspective, to get a feel for how the ship was set up. Despite its poor condition the ship was still quite large. Not as large as a protoss carrier but almost and with powerful air and ground weapons as well. There was a distinct almost slice right in the middle of the ship that caused it to be the two halves Zeratul was now viewing. It was an interesting thing. Zeratul and his people had been fighting the zerg for some time and had never before encountered damage that precise. The zerg were more concerned about destroying the enemy, not how graceful or good they looked while doing it. It was a disturbing thought that Zeratul had to forcibly push aside before he could concentrate on the task at hand. He looked around and saw that there were a few bodies laying around. Several of them had large pools of blood beneath them. _Those ones, _Zeratul thought with sadness,_ cannot be saved._ Zeratul started to turn away from the death to check for other bodies when he heard a soft, rasp from one of the bodies say: " Please... help... me." Zeratul turned and saw that one of the bodies further away, was moving slightly and struggling to get up. Zeratul instantly rushed over to the struggling terran and grabbed hold of the terran's arm to lift him up. The terran turned his head, once he was up, and regarded the strange looking alien that had just helped him. He said: " Thank you kindly, perhaps you purple-skinned aliens aren't so bad". Zeratul was pleased with the complement and risked moving further and asked: _Are there any other survivors of this wreckage, I need to know._ The man turned his head slowly as if contemplating the answer and then said: " There might be some, though I doubt it. I just barely made it to the far end of the cruiser before it hit". Although if you can find Commander Hukenov at least his family will know what happened and can give him a proper funeral and all". Zeratul was struck by this and said: _What about yourself, do you not want your own family to know what has happened to you and bury you as well? _At that the man simply chuckled, a sound that was more sorrow than humor and said: " Not really you see my family was wiped out by you aliens when we first has zerg. Or something like that. The Dominion keeps feeding us this stuff about how you aliens are here to destroy us and everything we stand for. Now I for one don't believe it but hey what can I do I am a lowly engineer. Not supposed to say anything or do anything except repair the ship. The man turned his head back towards the ship and said, his voice dripping with anger and sorrow: " But it's kinda damned hard to fix this", and he raised his arms slowly to show what he meant". Zeratul nodded his head and said:_ Your courage is commendable and you should be honored among your people... later right now we need to search the ship. _The man nodded and looking all around at himself, checking he started to walk or rather hobble over towards the other end of the ruined ship. Zeratul watched him go for a moment before moving himself.

He made quick work of searching the outlying perimeter of the ship, his long strides easily covering the space that the destroyed ship covered. However the real challenge came when they needed to search inside the ship. Even though it was cut in half the ship still was large. Zeratul had the three of them. The terran, the student and himself, split up and follow three separate paths. Winding down damaged corridors, checking every room that was not caved in. Zeratul stumbled upon a few bodies but they were to mangled and damaged to be still alive and a second verification of Zeratul touching them verified that notion. His student did as well but these were still alive if barely. He took them and did his best to escort them off of the ship into the nearby grass. The terran, whose name Zeratul came to find out was George, also was able to find many bodies that were still alive and carefully escort them off of the ship and into the nearby grass. All three continued their effort until they were sure no area except the bridge had been checked. All together the three had managed to find about fifty survivors, most in need of some medical attention of some kind.Zeratul told the other two that he would search the bridge alone and that the other two needed to tend to the injured on the ground outside. They agreed and left Zeratul to his work to tend to their own. Zeratul wasted no time, hastily searching every nook and cranny that could possible hide a body of any-kind. He moved closer and closer to where he assumed the captain of the ship would reside and found himself in front of a large metallic door that had partially caved in making entrance with the handle impossible. Zeratul, though, was not phased by this slight misfortune and simply focused his energy and formed his warp-blade. The greenish-yellowish glow quickly illuminating the area around him. Zeratul took a moment to look at the door assessing where he needed to hit and when he found it thrust his blade forward. The energy easily pierced the hard metal and caused the door to lurch. Zeratul then moved his arm down, then left, then up causing a large outline just large enough for his frame to appear in the door. Zeratul then kicked the middle of the outline and it fell forward with an enormous thud. He walked through the entrance and was surprised at what he saw.

A man badly injured who was holding one of his arms with his other hand, was lying on the floor. His black and brown army coat was badly torn in many places and his pants did not look much better. Also his face was covered in blood with black circles around the man's eyes. The shoulders, where Zeratul remembered terran commanders liked to keep medals and such, were burned badly with large blisters in many places. The man overall looked horrible. Also he was not alone. Standing beside of him were two large marines in their full combat armor, their rifles already out and pointing at him. Zeratul knew that in reality they would not fire unless he moved closer which he needed to do if he was to retrieve the fallen man. He carefully took a step forward and raised one hand saying: _ Terrans, I have no wish to harm you I simply have come to take you all off of the ship to _safety. The two marines seemed unfazed at the announcement but Zeratul could see in their minds that they were unsure if what to do. They wanted their commander to recover but they did not know whether or not they could trust this protoss who was offering them aid. Zeratul could understand but really did not want them to waste any more time deciding. Zeratul took a second cautious step forward and the marines reacted by moving closer to their hurt commander. A wall of meat as a last ditch defense. They were about to fire on him when a low voice was heard from the man lying on the floor, hurt. It was soft and strained but it still carried the command type of tone that was used to lead people: " Let him help, I know this protoss he won't hurt us unless we attack first". Zeratul could see in the marine's minds that they were still reluctant but had to obey their commander's order. Both marines parted and let Zeratul approach their commander. Zeratul wasted no time, he reached under the man and easily hoisted him up. He then turned and started to walk out of the door the marines following close behind them in case anything happened to their commander that was the alien's fault. Although Zeratul could tell in the marine's minds that they knew if something they did they could do little against this alien. It was a troubling thought but one that Zeratul was not unfamiliar with. He reached an area where there was an opening and jumped the marines close behind them.

All three of them landed with the hurt commander moving but very little. They then proceeded around the ship to where all of the other wounded people were situate at. Zeratul for the first time saw them all. Most were wounded, several severely. Though despite this Zeratul could tell that they all had the resolve to move on and try to carry on with their tasks. Zeratul admired them for that but was forced back into the present as he set the commander down with the two marines quickly moving ahead and shielding the commander. Zeratul knew this was it and decided now he needed to obtain any information he could. He stepped close to the commander and said: _I know you are hurting but I need you to tell me everything you can about what happened after I crashed. _There was a silence as the injured commander shifted his weight and collected his thoughts. He then said: "Not much really, we were not in the air much after your fleet disappeared. The zerg came after us and even with the combined might of Raynor's fleet we could not hold them off." Zeratul's eyes lit up slightly at Raynor's name and he said:_ What happened to Raynor do you know?_ The man slowly nodded his head and said: " Yes I do, he was knocked out of the sky as well the only weird thing about it was that the Hyperion took no damage she just simply plummeted towards this planet". It was an odd thing and Zeratul knew his curiosity would demand him to find an answer but right now he needed to tend to these injured.

All of a sudden there was a shrill streak and then many more that followed it. Zeratul looked up and saw several overlords moving down towards the surface. Doubtless they would be carrying many zerg ground troops and that meant bad news for all of them. As Zeratul watched literally about forty more appeared and started their decent towards the earth. Zeratul calculated and figured they would not land directly over them rather they would land about tow miles west of their position. Good there would be some space between them and the zerg. The commander however did not seems to notice and so asked: " What is going on who is attacking"? Zeratul turned to the man for only a moment and said simply and with deep finality: _Zerg._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter VII: Darkness Descends

_My queen, our forces have landed on the planet and have already begun building a new hive cluster. Our scouts have found the protoss ship and I am on route now to investigate, _mentally spoke Shadow to Kerrigan who was listening because she wanted to know exactly the condition of the dark templar prelate when she, through her consort, found him. Also she wanted this little "mission" to be over as quickly as possible so she could devote her time to more meaningful tasks that would benefit her and the Swarm. Although she knew that eventually the zerg would triumph- they always did- her patience was not infinite. A weakness that she would have to isolate and destroy later but for right now she would allow it to remain. She continued to watch through her consort's eyes as he reached the protoss vessel. Kerrigan could tell Shadow was somewhat impressed at the sleekness and the beauty of the protoss ship; despite it being wreaked, but also that the aesthetics of this ship would not give him a single moment's pause as he did her will.

He jumped from the ground about five feet and landed at an overturned loading area that was blasted open. To Kerrigan it seemed somewhat odd since the protoss did not normally abandon a ship or if they did they had escape pods specifically designed to be able to navigate any kind of atmosphere and preserve the being inside for a short time. Normally a couple of hours. This looked like someone or something was desperate to get out and away or into the ship. Kerrigan was unsure- for once- at this but decided it wasn't anything her consort could not handle. She spoke to him though to warn him:_ Be wary, whoever made this distinct wound in the ship may still be lurking. _Shadow sent back an affirmative thought. Kerrigan continued to watch as her consort made his way, with a few hydralisks in tow, to the bridge. It was incredibly easy to locate now that most of the floors were caved in. Though Kerrigan could not help but wonder, absent-mindedly, how could a protoss carrier's floors simply collapse in on themselves. She knew from experience that a protoss carrier was built for maximum sturdiness both on the ground and in space. That it would take an explosion stronger than any single attack from her zerg to do this. No this was not an external consequence to its impact with the surface, this was something caused internally. Now the question was why. Why would the protoss want to destroy their ship so thoroughly? Why would they abandon such a place when it was their best chance for a defense against her swarm due to its size? She had been so lost in her rhetorical questions that she almost missed when her minion spoke to her saying:_ My queen we have reached the bridge and there is no Zeratul to be found nor the young one. There are, however, massive casualties. _Kerrigan looked through her minions eyes and witnessed what he was seeing. He was correct, there were many casualties at least one hundred protoss bodies littered the floor, their blue and purple blood still forming pools where it did not drip down onto the lower levels due to the curve of the damaged floor. Wait! Still forming pools! That cannot be, Kerrigan understood how protoss bled. They bled for only about ten minutes and then stopped or the blood dried up! This is impossible every protoss she has ever maimed, killed or tortured had followed this same pattern. Hmm, then it must mean these protoss were killed recently. She continued to watch her minion as he looked at all of the bodies. She sensed that he was starting to feel something akin to pity but it was more than that he was feeling pain, a desire for revenge. Not at her but for the one who dared to murder their own brothers! He wanted to kill someone who dared to break a sacred pact that had been forged when Khas had shown the way out of the Aeon of Strife through the Khala. He wanted to avenge his brother's spirits! This was, Kerrigan quickly realized, not her consort's own thoughts. He was absorbing these feelings and desires from the dead protoss. Somehow he could feel these sensations without being a protoss or using the Khala. It was amazing and Kerrigan felt all the more justified to use her minion's ability to the utmost. She looked and saw that Shadow was now looking closely at one of the bodies. She noticed that these protoss did not suffer wounds that normally accompany striking the surface of the planet at a high speed. No. These wounds were different. Instead of the typical cuts and bruises and the occasional hole in the flesh, these wounds were large, bloody still and hot! Also, Shadow noticed, the communications crystal was smashed making it impossible for the protoss to send out any distress signal.

Shadow knelt down to touch the wound and immediately jerked his hand back. He looked at his hand and the place where he had touched the wound was seared black with large blue and green blisters already forming. Kerrigan felt the pain and dismissed it knowing that her consort would dismiss it as well. She was intrigued, these are not normal wounds nor are they ones that would have been created by her zerg- her zerg had not even made it to the planet yet-. She saw that the wounds were cauterized, no blood was coming from these ones rather the blood had come from the removed limbs that each one seemed to have.

Each protoss had one limb severed from the rest of the body. How was this possible? Who would have taken the time to methodically remove only one limb from each of these protoss. Shadow could tell that all of the protoss here were dead so there could not be any questioning of them to acquire information. Kerrigan knew this as well and dismissed it, she would simply find another way to get the information from Zeratul. _My queen all of these protoss from what I can gather from the sensations were killed by another protoss and want vengeance, _said Shadow. _What who, who I want to know!_ Shadow sent her the sensation and the information that Shadow had obtained and her eyes widened slightly. She could not help resist the urge to say: " No way". She could not believe it but now that she knew it could still be used to her advantage. She returned:_ Your search has given me enough information. Leave the ship and continue your search for the prelate and his student. We will still obtain the information one way or another. _Shadow returned an affirmative laced with some excitement. She knew he was as eager to complete the mission as she was. Kerrigan sat back down into her throne and thought: _Zeratul, wherever you are, your enemies are closer than you ever could imagine._

" What do you mean the zerg are here", yelled one of the marines at Zeratul. " How could they have followed us all the way here so quickly? Zeratul understood the marine's fear and surprise and so did not get offended or defensive he simply stated: _Kerrigan can see anything through the eyes of her minions, surely some of them watched as our ships plummeted to the surface making it easy for her to follow out trail. _Zeratul knew that the marine was still frustrated and surprised but also that the logic was sinking in and making sense. The marine simply shrugged his shoulders and moved away from Zeratul and closer to his commander, whom Zeratul had found out was the same commander that had spoken to him before the battle. Hukenov. Zeratul shifted slightly looking at the nearby hills making sure that there were no zerg scouts nearby to give away their positions. When he could not see any he shifted his gaze to Hukenov who was still injured severely but was doing his best to make it look like it was not as bad as it was. He slowly started to stand up before his knees buckled and he was on the ground again. The marines rushed to him and tried to get him to sit up. Zeratul knew it was an empty gesture, just something to not cause any of the other terrans to panic. However it seems the bravado was not needed as the other terrans were already doing what they could to scavenge any materials from the ship. Many came back with sacks filled with supplies. Others came back with arms full of weapons. Chief among them was the classic Ac-13 assault rifle that all terran marines seemed to like to use. However these people were not all marines, most were scientists and engineers not trained in the art of war. Zeratul could see this in the rather clumsy way the other terrans wielded the weapons.

It was a rather sad sight but there was not much Zeratul could do to intervene since he was unfamiliar with terran weaponry as well. However he was skilled in many fighting styles and these he could use to aid the terrans. If nothing else make it harder for the zerg to kill them. He agreed with this line of thinking and so moved slowly towards Hukenov. The two marines took a step to the side and waited, watching for anything suspicious. Zeratul got to within a few feet of Hukenov, who was doing his best to sit up, and said softly:_You know as I do that these people are not trained in the art of war. They will fall quickly if they are in an all out fight against the zerg. Their sheer numbers will overwhelm us however I can offer some assistance in hiding away and hitting the zerg when they least expect it. Would you allow me to lead your forces and try and keep them safe._ Hukenov looked at the alien with his one semi-good eye that was bloodshot and said: " If it means that we get to see another day by trusting you... then I will stand by you and let you lead us. Zeratul sent him a thought of gratitude and went to work all the while wondering where his student had run off to. As if a cue Rathnuk appeared from around the ship and walked over to Zeratul. When he got close he said: _Forgive my absence teacher, I was trying to locate any other survivors or supplies for the trip. _Zeratul looked at him questioningly and said: _Did you find anything then? _A brief silence then: _I found a couple of terrans but they were deceased and the supplies I found were so mangles and distorted that they were beyond repair or use for that matter._ Zeratul still was unsure but figured if there was some falsehood he would find out soon enough. He returned his attention to the terrans and said: _If we want to avoid the zerg finding us right away we need to move now. _The marines nodded their head and carefully lifted their commander to his feet. The other terrans rose on their own or with some help if the need was present. Zeratul then looked on opposite where he saw the zerg land and said: _Lets move._

A couple of hours later the odd convoy was about ten miles from the destroyed ship, all of the supplies being carried either in arms or rough sacks made from some cloth or any other material that could be found. Zeratul still leading them but making sure that he did not get to far ahead for the others were neither as fast as he was or as uninjured as he was. He was still injured yes with a few cuts and bruises but that was all. Some of these people had broken limbs that prevented them from walking or running well. Zeratul felt sympathy for them because they were much more fragile than protoss. _Maybe this is why they need to build machines and fighters that have so much power, because they lack the power themselves. _Zeratul shifted his gaze for a moment and regarded Hukenov who was struggling to walk but was not getting very far. Constantly having to have his aids grab hold of him when he stumbled and keep a close eye on him. He spoke softly to the commander: _I know recovering from wounds is never easy and one seeks to keep his pride however there is no shame in accepting aid from others when it is needed._ Hukenov turned his head and looked intently at Zeratul. Zeratul could read what Hukenov was thinking and decided that it needed time for the wisdom to set in; but now was not the time he immediately sent a thought explaining the why of his words. Hukenov's eyes widened and he nodded his head. He told his two guards to carry him where they needed to go, he explained what Zeratul had told him and they complied. One of them lifted the commander to where he could hold him in one arm and his rifle in another. They continued to move until they came upon a large valley. Zeratul looked around and saw that there were only two entrances into the valley and the way he was going was one of them. Excellent this would funnel any zerg into the two areas where the terrans could easily rip them to shreds with their weapons. He relayed the information to Hukenov who then relayed it to everyone else. They agreed and moved down into the valley. All the while Zeratul kept a sharp eye out for anyone or thing that could alert the zerg to their presence. Once they reached the center of the rather large valley Zeratul told them to set up camp for the night. The terrans obeyed and set up rather makeshift camps using anything they could find whether it be rocks or sand or dirt. Some had small tents that they had packed with them and they used that as a home. These individuals, luckily, shared their space and were able to fit two to a tent. There were only five so several of the people had to sleep on the ground. Also there was the matter of security. Zeratul volunteered to take the first watch so the terrans could all rest. Hukenov protested claiming that he should watch first just in case he needed to sacrifice his life to ensure the others could escape. Zeratul admired the human's desire to sacrifice himself for the others but right now that is not what they needed, right now they needed a leader that was human and alive. Not some alien they still could not trust completely. He kindly explained how it would be better for him to stand watch as he could "hear" and see better in case the zerg make an appearance. Also if there would be any combat involved then he could fight them off better and last longer giving them more time to escape. Hukenov reluctantly agreed and stepped down. Zeratul thanked him and took the first watch, making sure the terrans did not have any problems while they slumbered.

_My queen our search has not yielded any results except for the location of a Dominion battle-cruiser that is badly damaged,_ spoke Shadow making sure his queen knew everything. Which she always did but still it helped him to make sure. Kerrigan looked and saw what her consort was seeing. Yes indeed it was a Dominion ship she could see the remnants of the insignia that she despised so much. Her hands involuntarily tightened around her throne as the memories came flooding back into her mind. She forced them aside and instead focused on the mission at hand. Alright the Dominion were here probably not in great numbers but that could easily change. Even though she had three of her broods committed to this her numbers were not infinite on that planet she would need to complete her mission quickly. She thought how best to direct her servant and decided that she would have him scour the ship. She sent the order and he immediately complied having his zerg- about fifty of them now- scour the ship and tear everything apart. They came across several bodies that were clearly dead. Kerrigan absently thought about having them infested to fuel her army but decided she did not have the time to waste and decided to leave them alone. Her consort finally made it to the bridge or what was left of it and looked around. There were still some provisions left and some weapons. _Apparently the terrans who were here did not pack very well_, thought Kerrigan as she watched through her minion's eyes. She already had assumed that at least a few of the terrans would survive the only problem was finding them and dispatching them as they needed to be. It was a simple process really all that needed to be done was find them and the zerg would take care of the rest easy. Anyway she returned her attention to the ship she was secondhand exploring and started to notice something odd about the walls. There seemed to be something more to them that what was originally there. She directed the thought to Shadow and he agreed. Soon he was feeling the walls with his hand until they stopped over a particular part. There was something different about it. Shadow gripped that part of the wall and ripped it out. Beneath it was a large c-24 pack that was already primed and apparently had been triggered when the wall was removed as only a second after the panel was removed the device went off. Shadow was completely thrown back into a nearby wall where he took the remainder of the blast full force. His flesh was starting to roast off despite the hard carapace that was on his skin. All of the other zerg were killed, blown into pulpy bits by the device. Only Shadow remained alive... barely.

Just as quickly as the blast started it ended. When it did Shadow burnt and missing skin in many places collapsed unconscious to the metallic floor that was mostly gone. However the floor did not hold and Shadow fell through until he struck the hard ground. There was but a moan to show that Shadow was still alive. Kerrigan leaped from her throne in frustration and shouted: " Damn those terran fools, they may have stopped me but I will triumph"! She returned to her seat and thought about how she would salvage this situation. She decided that she would wait for a day before moving again for although her consort was designed to be able to take much punishment he had his limits and he was at it. She sent him a single thought to rest for now and resume the hunt the next day. She did not receive response back which she had anticipated and decided that it was for the best to wait and learn._ You have a small reprieve for now Zeratul but only a small reprieve. Soon I will find you then I will kill you and take the knowledge you hold,_ fiercely thought Kerrigan as she plotted her next move.

Zeratul was the first to pick up on the explosion when it happened. He quickly returned from his watch on the far end of the valley to the camp and alerted the terran commander of what he saw. He received a harsh laugh that Zeratul knew hurt the commander. It confused him as to why he laughed until the commander explained: " Ha, ha yes you saw an explosion that means the zerg had found the ship and that they had searched the bridge. Just a little gift from me to them. When I saw that we were not going to win the space battle, I placed a large packet of c-24 in one of the panels of the bridge that would emit a low sound that would attract their attention and when they come to investigate it BOOM! The commander threw his arms in the air for emphasis. " Not a single zerg should have survived that blast not a single one". Zeratul was somewhat happy that the commander had found some defense against the zerg but did not trust to hope for he had seen zerg capable of surviving star-ship explosions and still fight. Though he dared not tell the commander this for he wanted these terrans to have all of the hope they could. Zeratul then satisfied returned to his solitude at his watch on one end of the valley. Zeratul absently thought of his student who had insisted taking the other end of the valley to watch. He knew the student was a capable fighter despite being so young. However he also knew that the student was reckless and lacked the discipline necessary to survive these types of conditions which forced worry on Zeratul. Zeratul attempted to assure himself that Rathnuk could defend himself but nothing seemed to calm his fears. After a short time Zeratul gave up and started to move away from the camp, away from the valley and away from everyone else and started walking on his own. He did not look back despite a desire to protect the terrans welling up inside of him.

For the next couple of hours under the soft glow of star-light Zeratul simply walked allowing all of his thoughts, fears and everything else to come flooding back in. The mental dam that Zeratul had erected while he focused on his mission was then shattered. He was soon drowned in sorrow and pity for himself. He became a walking shadow as it were lost in his own mind. However he was soon forced from his revere when he heard some rustling from a nearby group of large oddly shaped trees. Zeratul looked and noticed that these trees were similar to the ones on Shakurus only these ones actually had leaves and fruit. But why were they twisted? They should not be twisted they should be straight. The reason struck him like a fist. He was not just seeing the trees he was seeing... dark templar! As he thought that a low,deep voice came from incredibly close to him: _Adun Toridas, prelate Zeratul. Welcome to our humble dwellings._ At that moment the shadows around the trees shifted and soon two figures were revealed. Both were tall, taller than Zeratul and both wielded large black bracers from where the famous warp-blades could be summoned. Each had his black cloak draped across himself in such a way that only the arm with the bracer could actually be seen. A precaution that allowed for a measure of intimidation to be brought out whenever the dark templar were caught. Normally it would be difficult for anyone to see these dark ones but for Zeratul with his heightened eye-sight it was no problem. The two dark templar shifted slightly and Zeratul said: _Adun Toridas brothers how good it is to see some of our own people here in this dark time. _The two protoss nodded and one responded saying: _Indeed we were beginning to think that you would never come and seek us out. We saw when your ship crashed and sent out a private message to you to come find us we would be willing to give you aid. _Zeratul's eyes widened a bit at the news and responded:_ You did? I never received such a message I simply recall waking up to my student a couple of miles away from the ship before it exploded. Imploded, _corrected one of the protoss. _What do you mean? _The dark templar responded: _We witnessed the event closely the ship imploded. Something went off inside of it. What it was is impossible to say. _Zeratul was taken aback by this new information and desperately wanted more but knew that if his brothers were not going to tell him then they had a good reason. He dismissed it for a moment and focused instead on his current situation: _You mentioned that you could give us aid. _One of the protoss slowly nodded an affirmative and took a step back. Zeratul then moved forward and began to follow the two who were already running in some direction. Zeratul quickly followed in close behind and they continued their journey for a good part of the night before they stopped. Zeratul moved in front of the two to see what the two had stopped for. He was completely taken aback by what he saw. A large sprawling protoss city that stretched for at least twenty miles in every direction. With massive spires reaching a thousand feet into the air. There were also lights emanating from inside the city's large black walls that gave it a type of internal illumination. Zeratul felt dwarfed by this city since the only city on Shakurus that would have been larger than this would be Talematros the capital. It was an amazing sight and one that he hoped he would be able to see more than once. Zeratul looked downward noticing that the city was built within a valley of sorts but one that probably used to be steep until these protoss wore it down with their tools making it habitable. Overall Zeratul was amazed at the sight and even more amazed at the fact that there were protoss here at all. One of the nearby dark templar read his thought and replied: _Yes we dark templar found this planet two centuries ago and made it our home. After Aiur fell to the zerg many refugees fled the planet in anyway they could. Most through the warp-gate however some were diverted after the warp-gate was shut down and ended up here. The scared refugees fled and tried to rebuild but the zerg hounded them even here. The zerg were here before,_ interrupted Zeratul!_ Yes they were when they were under the control of the Overmind. When they lost that control and after the refugees had found us and we had started to build a city together we were able to take advantage of their confusion and eliminate them. Completely scouring them from this planet and creating a safe haven of sorts for any refugees that may still be out there. _Zeratul looked down in sadness and responded: _I hate to inform you but the zerg have returned. They are looking for me and the information I hold concerning a preserver we found only a few days ago. Also the terrans had gotten involved and there is a group of them that I am leading away from the zerg._ The dark templar looked troubled but did not say anything rather he and his brother started to walk down the small hill towards the city. After a few minutes they reached the wall where a large black gate was there closed. One of the dark templar called to the guard who happened to be an Aiur protoss who looked like he used to be of the templar caste but no longer. Instead of the golden armor he wore rather simple dark clothing with a few bits of armor here and there but nothing that looked war-like. He looked to be doing nothing but that was of course because he wasn't doing anything physical rather he was using his psi energy to open the gate. After only thirty seconds it did and the dark templar thanked the gate keeper. One of them turned to Zeratul and said: _Your news is most unfortunate, we need to have you speak to the city council immediately otherwise we may be in danger._ Zeratul realized with some worry that he would need to return to the camp soon which the templar read and responded to with assurances that it will only take a short time. Zeratul was mollified and accepted the call to enter the city. Zeratul stood up straight, cleared his mind of all other thoughts except the ones concerning his situation and steeled himself for whatever may lie ahead. When he was ready he tightly shuttered his thoughts and entered the city.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter VIII: New Hope, Same Enemies

The night was warm and pleasant, the starlight bathed the local landscape in a swirl of pale white mixed with the blackness that still lingered ever since this planet's sun set behind the horizon four hours before. Off in the distance some of the planets oddly shaped nocturnal creatures were beginning to make themselves known through various noises and "dances". There was also a slight breeze that decreased the temperature in the area a few degrees which came every few minutes. Overall it was beautiful almost pristine. _But such a thing is never meant to last,_ wryly thought Rathnuk as he stood watch over the slumbering, weak, terrans in the valley below. _I still don't understand why Zeratul has such a fondness of these humans. They have no special physical characteristics about them, I mean in a fist fight the protoss could kill them easily. They have no real love for each other, otherwise they would not be contended with killing each other over and over. There is nothing special about them so why does Zeratul take pity on them? _

The night lingered on with the constant breeze and the various sounds of slithering and the wooing along with other soft noises that Rathnuk did not truly care to know the origin of, being the only thing that gave evidence that something other than him was alive. Rathnuk began to become uncomfortable, not because of any fear of the zerg no- in truth he would much rather fight the zerg right now since it would challenge his power- but because he was not doing anything other than looking after these "terrans". He was not a babysitter as it were he was a warrior and warriors did not sit around and watch others. They fought and if need be they died. Instantly the old memory hit again this time in more detail: _Standing next to twenty other fully armored warriors of the Aiur Elite Guard, Rathnuk took in what he saw: The glorious city of Antioch was ablaze with the zerg hordes attacking everyone and everything in sight; the valiant Antioch guard with Fenix at its head trying to hold off the unending tide. Rahnuk turned toward one of his companions and said: The city of our forefathers burns at the touch of the vile zerg. This.. this insult cannot continue, there must be severe retribution for this outrage! As if a command the twenty warriors as a __collective unit charged down the hill towards the city that was well overdo for a rescue. Then... _

Rathnuk's head immediately whipped up as the sound of a loud rustling came from a couple hundred yards away, effectively cutting off the memory that was vivid almost to the point of being surreal. _I hope that it will come again soon._ Rathnuk desperately hoped but knew that it may not happen as the source of the noise was made clear. It was a hydralisk, tall- taller than him- with large scythe blades for arms and its disgusting mouth that he knew housed hundreds of poisonous barbs that could penetrate flesh and steel easily, he jaws clattering together every few seconds. Rathnuk was not afraid of the creature quite the contrary this was what he had been waiting for. Something to kill.

Immediately he summoned his two psi daggers from his wrists and slowly started towards it. He saw that the creature had just recently come from a copse of trees and had not yet seen him but that could change at any minute. He wanted the creature to be unaware when he sprung into action and killed it. So he slowly started to walk over sideways until he was behind a bunch of rocks that were rather large. Here Rathnuk waited to see what the hydralisk would do next. He saw that it started to move slowly not towards him but towards the valley entrance where he was just sitting. _He does not care about me he wants the terrans!_ Rathnuk gave a mental chuckle and simply watched it go. _Lets see if these terrans can defeat this nightmare alone._ He continued to watch it go and as it got far enough to peer into the valley it did something unexpected. It turned and left without so much as a hiss of warning or a practice shot. _Just a scout well now they know where we are for sure I guess its just a matter of time now. _Once the hydralisk was past the copse of trees Rathnuk returned to his spot and waited out the rest of his vigil in peace.

The city was large to say the least. Much larger than any city that was on Shakurus save for the capital. There were lights everywhere emanating somewhat softly to give a bit of a mysterious glow to the large gold and somewhat purple buildings that lined the paved streets. Here and there Zeratul watched both Aiur and Dark templar talk, greet and share a general good time. It was amazing to see and Zeratul secretly wished that Shakurus could be the same way. The two dark templar who were to the left and right of him being his guides, had remained oddly silent and were not very prone to speaking to anyone. _Perhaps my news was more devastating than I had thought, _darkly thought Zeratul. As an answer one of the dark templar said: _Yes, it is. _That was all that was said but Zeratul understood enough to know that there were at least three other layers of meaning built atop the first and that the other layers would not be revealed until they had to be. They continued walking down the street past protoss and buildings catching, occasionally, an armed guard but nothing that would signify a large military presence here. Soon enough the three reached a large building that had many golden arches but the top formed a dome that was purple almost black. The door before the three was massive with one half golden the other purple. Zeratul stood at rapt attention until one of his "guides" said: _This is the culmination of both Aiur and dark templar engineering this also symbolizes the complete union between the Aiur protoss and the dark templar here on this world. _Zeratul nodded and chose not to speak at first but then his curiosity got hold and he asked:_ How then does this council work? _The guide to his left turned his head and said simply: _You will see soon enough._

A moment after he had said this the large doors started to slowly open, moving backwards until they were against the wall on the inside. All three walked through and Zeratul was treated to quite a sight. The ceiling was massive with large chandeliers emanating soft light, controlled by nearby dark templar guards. The walls were covered in various shelves and decorations. There were even a few statues. Not as many as in the Dark Templar Archives on Shakurus but still a few. Zeratul looked down the massive hall and beheld a rather tall figure- he looked to be at least 6 ft 8 perhaps- clothed in a long flowing half gold and half purple robe. Atop his head sat what looked like a crown but it did not truly look like one instead of the material being connected all the way around and then upward on the skull what was there was simply four gems, one on each side front,back,left,right. The gems looked beautiful but not necessarily opulent. He radiated calm but also a steely resolve that was not being mitigated for the benefit of the guest who to him probably was an angel of death with the news he had. The robed figure walked toward the three dark templar until they were within a few feet of each other. At this point he said: _dark times are indeed upon this world again as you have proclaimed that our enemies the zerg have once again returned here. Indeed it seems that we will have to mobilize our military once again. _Zeratul was shocked, up until this point he had not seen anyone- save for a few guards- that would have convinced anyone of a military here. Was there something this person was not telling him? At that the protoss responded: _Yes, quite a bit has not been said at this juncture Zeratul because until the news came of the zerg being here it was not needed_ _but now it is so I will simply tell you. Wait! You already knew of the zerg's presence here, interrupted_ Zeratul!_ Yes we did, we have scouts everywhere on this planet and we were able to find the zerg the moment they arrived here. Understand we have not done anything because we needed to assess the strength of the zerg as well as confirm if there were any allies we might be able to find and make use of. _Zeratul closed his eyes and said: _Yes indeed you have allies both in me and in the terrans I have chosen to champion here against the zerg. _The other protoss responded: _The rest of the city council and I thank you for your support. Perhaps it is time we show you our military, the reason we were able to scour the zerg from this world so long ago. _

The well dressed protoss turned and walked towards the entrance of the building where Zeratul and the other two dark templar had entered a moment ago and exited through. The two guides turned and followed with Zeratul quickly in tow. The three followed after the councilman down the large street almost back to the gate. Before they reached it however the councilman turned and moved to the right. Zeratul and his escort followed. After a few minutes all four were stopped in front of a second rather large building. It was not as large as the -Zeratul could only guess- council hall but still large. The building was entirely purple and had large pillars on the outside that had carved into them two apparently important dark templar whose larger than life weapons were facing outward. Clearly warriors though unknown to Zeratul. Apparently the councilman had picked up on the thought and responded saying: _These two warriors were heroes from the time of the great battle here on this planet. The one on the left was called Stardrak, and the one on the right was called Nighthawk. Each had their own set of problems and differences. Both were nomads who found this planet only a couple of years before the Great __War began. They established a minor outpost here and it flourished until the Great War happened and it was destroyed. Needless to say once we and the other refugees found this planet they decided that they needed to assist us. They were the ones who killed the largest group of zerg that was on the planet. The one to the left died from a fatal wound he suffered from a rabid hydralisk who was about to kill one of our warriors. The other died defending the... well let me just show you. _At that the council member silenced and ordered the large purple door to be opened with his "voice". The doors quickly swung inward and the four protoss walked through. Zeratul's mind reeled from what he saw. Tens no hundreds of massive dragoon suits lined the walls. In front of them a few hundred full armored zealots with even larger blades than normal were practicing some ancient "dance" all were thrusting, parrying, then thrusting again with many twists and jumps thrown in, all in perfect unison. It was a beautiful sight and Zeratul wished secretly that his student could be here to see this. Oh no! Zeratul had forgotten all about his student and the terran camp. _I hope that the zerg have not found you yet if so then all may be lost._

The councilman continued on down the large seemingly crowded hallway. At the end of the large hallway there was a second set of large purple doors. Again he ordered them opened and they opened. He walked forward into the next room with the three others in tow and Zeratul was shocked even more at what was there: At least a thousand dark templar training in what looked like a distinct perversion of the original Aiur zealot armor. It did not cover as much- only the central torso and one shoulder- as the zealot armor but it looked versatile and easy to maneuver in. All of the warriors, like the ones in the room before this one, were training in some sort of "dance" all in unison matching each move perfectly without any kind of deviation. It was quite the sight and Zeratul was not unaffected by the display. He stepped forward until he was next to the councilman and asked: _Why do you keep all of this hidden from view, this military machine is something that could have kept the zerg from ever arriving here on the planet!_ There was a silence and then the robed protoss slightly turned his head and said:_There is a good reason. We have made this planet not only a haven for our own people and that of other races but also a death trap for our enemies. You see this city is not the only one that is here naturally; there are literally hundreds __of cities spread across the surface with the same if not more of the warriors you have seen thus far. There is a massive planet-wide network of cities that are roughly the same size as this one is and have the same structures. It is a diversionary tactic so the enemy does not know which city will be the most heavily defended. _Zeratul was stunned all this time he had thought that this city was the only one and that the protoss he saw were the only ones here with any military experience clearly he was majorly wrong. Indeed there seemed enough warriors here to mount an efficient assault against the zerg that had made it to the planet. _There is more waiting for you Kerrigan than you could have ever imagined, much more. _Zeratul grew somewhat excited about the prospect of actually being on the offensive for once instead always running.

Though he was a Dark Templar and therefore used to melding with the shadows and hiding from his enemies the desire to meet in up front confrontations still held some sway in his heart and sometimes took over. Often it was at an inopportune time however this was the best time to take the offensive. Now they would show Kerrigan the folly of taking on the protoss and destroy the zerg she had sent to claim him. _This will be an interesting experience, prepare your forces Kerrigan we come. _

_Rise my warrior, rise Shadow! _Shadow immediately jumped up to his feet with a start as the voice of his queen rang in his head. He looked down at himself and noticed that most of the black flesh had been replaced by green, hardened flesh that had no signs of damage on them. Shadow looked all over and saw that most of his wounds were gone as though the explosion on the terran ship had not happened at all. It was glorious and he thanked his queen for giving him this ability and swore to use his restored strength to bring his queen her prize. He looked around so as to recall where he was. Of course he was still near the remnants of the terran ship. The debris was now mostly gone or melted in the fiery explosion that had occurred the night before. Wait! Night before. Shadow looked up and saw that it was indeed morning. The entire night had passed without him knowing yet somehow he did know that it had, simply it hadn't registered in his strengthened mind. It did not matter though the morning was bad for him since it meant that his prey was that much farther away. _Wait, they are still terran which means that they at some point would have to stop for rest. Such weakness would be their downfall, he had no such weakness he could continue the hunt forever until his pray was found. His pray would be found soon enough. _Shadow started to move away from the wreckage and take in his surroundings. There seemed to be nothing different here save for some tracks that appeared fresh nearby. He walked over and peered down at them. They were not human they looked protoss but he knew that the protoss never would be careless enough to leave a footprint that could be followed. Unless this particular protoss wanted to be found. Yes that had to be it the protoss wanted to be found but the only question is why, why would this protoss want to be found. He guessed he would find out soon enough. He followed the tracks swiftly on foot, his mind reaching out to any nearby zerg. He was lucky that there was a large force of about fifty zerg ground troops near his location. Apparently they had been set as guards during his brief slumber but did not necessarily guard his body directly. They would do for now until the rest of the broods could find him. To ensure that he would have sufficient troops when he engaged the terrans and the protoss he sent out a mental cry that stretched at least one-hundred miles in every direction. _My enemies will know I am coming but that is of little consequence soon I will have the power of three broods and with them my queen's enemies will fall! This is a glorious day for the zerg. _

Shadow continued moving as quick as he could, following the tracks of the foolish protoss up a large hill until he was at the top. There he beheld in the valley below his prize. A large terran camp filled with wounded and still armed terrans. Shadow looked around and could not see any other signs of the protoss. Surely they could not have just vanished. Of course one was a Dark Templar prelate he could disappear but the other one was a typical Aiur protoss he could not vanish. Unless he had learned how to from Zeratul but wait no that could not be he was an Aiur protoss from the feelings he received from the dead protoss on the destroyed carrier this one still had pride in his heritage and so would not necessarily align himself fully with dark templar teachings. It was odd indeed and it was something that he hoped would not jeopardize his mission. No! Nothing would prevent him from completing his task for his queen. He looked again down at the valley and the terrans who were milling about their business like tiny ants that were soon to be squashed by the boot of an angered farmer whose hard earned sandwich had just been taken. They would not last long. They would not last long at all. Shadow chuckled throatily as the easiness of this assignment took hold. However suddenly a chill overtook him and he heard clearly in his mind the angry words of his queen they said: _Do not dare underestimate the protoss they are a cunning foe. Keep your senses sharp Zeratul is sure to be nearby he would not leave his charge unattended for long. Win this for me my consort and I shall reward you greatly._ Shadow understood what the subtle undertones implied. Truly it is difficult to not adhere to her will whether in battle or elsewhere. It meant nothing at this point anyway he needed the prelate or his life was forfeit. He looked down at the valley below again and immediately started formulating how he would draw out the prelate. With a thought he sent twenty hydralisks down toward the terran camp. He wanted to test how strong their defenses actually were. This beginning wave would surely determine the strengths and the weaknesses for him. This would be good. They slithered down unopposed towards the human foes utterly obedient and relentless in their mission. However when they reached the trough of the hill two were instantly cut down by weapons fire. Shadow was mildly surprised at this and quickly had the other creatures turn to where the attack came from. From the side the creatures saw a tall, gruff man with a partly shaven beard and a large brown mustache grazing his face. His eyes were a sharp blue that were somewhat dulled. His head was shaved to a crop of thin hair that was still thinning. In his hands he held a large gause rifle that had been modified since it had a large bayonet on the bottom and a larger muzzle than most rifles. The sleekness and the care combined with the power to take down two hydralisks in only a few shots did not escape Shadow although it really did not matter whoever this newcomer was he would fall just the same. He commanded the other eighteen to attack however they were stopped when a large circular device rolled underneath one and exploded sending chunks of molten flesh and bone everywhere. At least three more hydralisks were slain in the blast and five others knocked over. The man gave a yell and fired his weapon once more. Instantly three more hydralisks were cut down their thick lumbs literally torn in half. Before the other creatures could react he had thrown a second circular device which subsequently went off killing another three and knocking over four more. He quickly switched a button and his weapon started firing full auto, the large triangular spikes impaling everywhere on the hydralisks. More and more went down. While the newcomer was focusing on the hydralisks, Shadow sent a small pack of twenty zerglings that had heard his mental call down a separate part of the hill behind the battling warrior. He ordered them to rip this man apart. They rushed down the hill to obey but were stopped by a large mental blast that sent all twenty zerglings back. Some did not rise from the attack. Shadow turned his head to see who had caused this, half expecting to see the Aiur protoss but no he saw nothing when he looked. Then he realized why, it was not the Aiur protoss at all but the prelate he was seeking. As if on cue something started to coalesce next to the man fighting. Soon it took physical form and there as if he was always meant to be stood the slightly hunched dark templar prelate Zeratul! His dark robes were fluttering slightly and his eyes were glowing bright green a sure sign of some sort of vitality and strength that had been lost returned. On his right arm a large glowing green blade of pure mental energy was protruding out towards the still recovering zerglings. He spoke in a loud " voice" to the zerg: _Away from these my charge and never return!_ With those words he sprung into action his blade moving faster than even Shadow's augmented eyes could see. The zerglings did not stand a chance against his kind of foe. As quickly as he had appeared all the remaining zerglings were dead sliced open or in half or with missing limbs. As well Shadow realized the other man had begun to attack again slaughtering the remaining hydralisks. Now there were no other zerg that Shadow could currently use. The remaining of his forces were supposed to meet him here an hour ago based on his direction however they had not. He absently wondered where they were but figured they probably had encountered some kind of resistance. "It does not matter, my survey has been complete I will bring more to the fray next time", Shadow openly thought. "Soon you all will be dead and my queen will have what she has sought." With that Shadow turned from the valley and started to walk away towards a small copse of trees , his mental call still strong yet contained so the protoss could not track it to his location. He sough all of the zerg his queen had given him for this mission however due to his lack of leadership the three broods had landed on different parts of the planet. Though they would aid in the eventual taking over of the planet it was not good for use now and so he was forced to conserve what little forces he had. Forty of which were just killed. That did not matter either there would be more he simply had to wait and watch. Echoing words he somehow remembered he said:you have a reprieve for now but only a short one.


End file.
